Dream A Little Dream Of Me
by The Last Element
Summary: When death claims Evelyn Black the secrets that she only ever told her diary are revealed to the eyes of her daughter Kelly. And soon Kelly understands why her mother always believed dreams were so powerful and why Evelyn cried to sleep so many nights...
1. Chapter 1

I decided to write this one day while watching the original NOES movie. The story works like this: it's from Kelly's view until she reads the diary and then after a few lines of Evelyn's writing it will switch timelines and be through Evelyn's view. The rating will remain T up until chapter 3 or 4 when the first murder occurs. After than I plan on getting pretty graphic and digging into Evelyn's subconcious. As well as I can having created her anyway. Please read and enjoy. Feel free to leave me any comments of what you liked or didn't like I welcome both.

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**Chapter One**

Kelly Black stood perfectly still as she watched them lower her mother into the ground. She would never forget how peaceful her mother looked before they slid the casket lid over top of her lifeless body. The forty-eight year-old woman was lying nestled in a cushion of soft white silk and dressed in a sleek black dress. It fell across her creamy white chest in a sweet heart neckline and trailed down until it graced her ankles and revealed small feet in delicate black slippers. Her luscious brunette hair had been spilled behind her head in gentle waves that rolled down over her shoulders and framed her delicately pale and thin face. Her eyes were closed hiding the blue and grey orbs that Kelly knew were there. Kelly had always believed that her mother was a beautiful woman and even in death she thought she was glowing. However she knew it was not the same beauty without her radiant smile to complete it. She also knew she would never see that face smiling at her ever again. Kelly was so lost in her own thoughts she never heard any of the words that were being uttered to wish her mother a peaceful journey into the afterlife or the praise for who she was.

Kelly didn't need too as she knew who her mother was without any help from people who barely knew her face. She was Evelyn Black. Evelyn had given birth to Kelly sometime after she had graduated from university at age twenty-six. Evelyn had been a woman filled with kindness until she seemed to radiate it. She had always been the kind of person who would stand up for others before she would stand up for herself; she had told Kelly that this was because when she was growing up she had always hoped someone would have her back. Kelly had never been told much of her mother's past or of her father; all she had been told was that Evelyn had never gotten married to her father and he was gone the moment he found out that Evelyn was pregnant. Evelyn had never once shown to Uncle Alfred or to Kelly that this had upset her and continued on with her life. She had passed away two days ago peacefully in her sleep leaving twenty-two year-old Kelly by herself. Kelly had questioned how someone of her mother's age could die in her sleep but the doctors explained there were many medical mysteries and not every death could be explained. There wasn't much to do aside from accept that as her answer.

Before she had even realised it the sermon had ended and people came to offer her their apologies. She smiled and thanked them for their kind words and for attending though she barely noted their faces or names. She attempted to make her way back to the car so she could go back home but was instantly cut off by her grandparents Anna and Robert Black. She had never liked them and from what Uncle Alfred had told her Evelyn had never gotten along with them either.

"Oh darling this must be so terrible for you, what are you planning to do?" As her Grandmother cooed over her Kelly felt her eyes harden into a glare. She had always been told that she was the spitting image of her mother; her eyes however, had always been her father's. They were a pale green that many swore became a dark chocolate in the darkness. Grandmother had always hated her eyes.

"I'll be going to Michigan State University in September just like I had planned," she replied firmly. "My mother always said that an education is the most important thing a person can have because it's the only thing no one can ever take from you. I won't disappoint her and give that up."

"Oh but darling you're not thinking clearly," Anna scolded gently. "What about that house? We lived in there, we raised your mother in there, and she raised you there. Surely you can't afford to keep the house and go to school at the same time. We already have decided that we'll come and stay with you in the house so that you can manage it. Surely you need someone there with you during such a dark time."

"I won't be alone," Kelly told her a little more coolly than she intended. "Uncle Alfred will be staying with me until I leave for school and then I'll sign the deed to the house over to him."

Her grandmother's face contorted in a look of pure fury while Robert continued to stand patiently off to the side knowing it was best for him to keep his words to himself. "And what makes you so sure the house will be yours!" Her cries began to draw unwanted attention. "You are indeed your mother's child; just as arrogant as she was and just as selfish. There is no doubt the house would be willed to us, it was ours first. To give it back would only be right."

"You guys were the ones that left it in the first place you have no right to it," Kelly snapped. Her mother had told her the story; that she had returned from university only to find that her parents had moved to a different house without notice and a 'for sale' sign erect in the yard. She had said that her house was what made her and had bought it from her own parents without their knowledge as the real-estate agent had taken care of everything.

"The house is legally Kelly's, mother," chimed a vibrant man as he walked up beside Kelly and placed a hand on her petite shoulder.

Kelly turned to look at him and smiled. "Uncle Alfred."

He smiled down at her before looked back at his foster parents with glint of triumph in his vivid blue eyes. "As the executor of Evelyn's will I know exactly what Kelly here is entitled to; Evelyn left Kelly all of her worldly possessions including the deed to the house. We went over it yesterday."

Grandmother Anna gasped is horror. "And we were not involved?"

Alfred shrugged. "You weren't written in her will anywhere so I saw no need to bother you."

Her grandmother released what could only be described as a growl of rage before turning on her heels and storming away dragging her grandfather with her. For people in their eighties her grandparents were still very lively and capable. Unfortunately this meant that they didn't need to rely on anyone else and that they still felt that every member of the family should obey them. Grandfather didn't speak all that often but when he did his voice commanded attention.

"Sorry you had to see them so soon kiddo," he said as he brushed Kelly's soft brunette bangs out of her face. He let out a huge sigh and ran a hand through his own tousled blonde locks. "They should've left you alone."

"No... it's alright. I've gotten used to them." Kelly looked up at him and offered him the sweetest smile she could muster. "Thank you though."

"No problem kiddo." For as long as Kelly could remember Alfred Black had been the closest family member she had known. He had been adopted into the family when he was only five and Evelyn had been seven. Due to his blonde hair, blue eyes, and natural intelligence Evelyn's parents had always preferred him to their own natural born daughter. That was until he came out. He was twenty-three when he had finally told his parents; Evelyn had known for six years about him and his boyfriend. For siblings they were incredibly close and had shared all their secrets and they had always accepted one another without question.

He looked at her sceptically for a moment. "You know...for someone who just lost their mother you can still manage a pretty good smile."

"Whenever I would comment on Mom being sad or lonely she would always just smile at me and say 'you have no idea what I had to go through to get here, if I gave up now then none of it would be worth it'. I think she'd be happier if I didn't cry for her; if I just kept moving forward with my life. And besides...mom always said that the most beautiful thing about me was my smile."

Alfred grinned. "And she'd be furious if we took that away because of her. Come on Kelly, Peter already has our car started you can drive home with him and I'll take your car. I'll ask Peter to make his special spaghetti sauce tonight and you can even invite that Derek of yours over. How does that sound?"

She smiled up at him and gently took his hand. "That sounds wonderful. Let's go home."

Alfred and his significant other Peter had agreed to move into Evelyn's home with Kelly right away. They hadn't wanted her to be left alone with her memories. Her boyfriend Derek had offered but Kelly had politely refused him feeling that it almost would have been inappropriate. He hadn't attended the funeral due to the fact that he was scheduled to work and both Alfred and Kelly had told them that Evelyn was the kind of person who would have been mad at him for missing work for her. Evelyn would have told him that his thoughts were enough. Of course, Derek already knew that. The red head had practically been part of their family as Evelyn had always opened her heart and her home to him if things weren't quite right with his own family.

The months until September passed without much notice and before Kelly realised it the time for her to leave for school had arrived. Peter and Alfred had helped her pack most of her things and now Derek had packed them all into the back of his truck. She stood on the porch and wrapped her arms tightly around Peter who hugged her back as tightly as his could with his large tree trunk arms.

"You take care now Kelly. I don't want to see anything on the news. "

She pulled away and grinned at the black haired man with his twinkling brown eyes. "I promise I'll keep all my mischief off the television and out of the newspaper."

He let out a hearty laugh. "That's my girl."

She looked over at Alfred who smiled at her as best he could while trying to hold back his tears. "My god it's like seeing Evelyn go off to university all over again." He pulled her into a hug that could've strangled an elephant. "You take care of yourself kiddo and don't you ever hesitate to call us. We'll be here for whatever you need us for." She nodded her head against the crook of his neck and after a few more moments Alfred finally released her. "Now I've got something for you and I want you to take really good care of it." He ran back into the house and emerged with a small box shaped bundle wrapped in brown paper. "It was Evelyn's. I found it under the mattress when I was cleaning her room out. It's her diary...I think that if anyone were to read it she would want it to be you."

Kelly hesitated as she took what she now knew to be a book wrapped in a paper bag from her Uncle's large hands. Her thank you was small and whispered as she gripped the book tightly in her own hands. It was essentially a piece of her mother that she held; perhaps the last living piece in existence. She would read it once she was moved into her new dorms.

"Alfred...thank you. Thank you so much." She held onto her own tears as she clutched the parcel to her chest.

Alfred watched her face as she stared at the package and he ruffled her hair with a sad smile on his face. "Better take her away now Derek my boy or I'll take her back."

Derek smiled and nodded at the man, his thick red hair swinging around his pale face. "Sure thing Alfred, I'll see you around!"

Kelly finally snapped out of her trance in time to wave good bye to her uncle's as Derek led her down the path towards his idling black truck. She smiled to herself as got into the passenger side she looked out the window and watched the houses start to drift behind her as Alfred and Peter waved their good-byes.

"Better make yourself comfortable Kelly, it's a long drive to Michigan," Derek told her as he reached over to give her hand a reassuring squeeze before putting it back on the wheel. She watched her home's street sign fly past as they continued on their way. "Good-bye Elm Street," she whispered sweetly as she pressed a hand to the window.

"We're going out for some groceries did you want to come with us?" The high octave voice called out to Kelly from the bedroom beside her own.

"No," she called back quietly. "I've got something I need to take care of, you guys leave without me."

"Alright," the blonde called back.

It didn't take long before Kelly heard them leave the front door and make it into the hallway. She sat down on the cream colored bed sheets clad in only her black silk bathrobe as she stared at the package on her desk. She had been in university for just over a week now and hadn't yet opened the diary. She decided this morning that she needed to read it for her own piece of mind. She had no idea what she would read but she secretively hoped that somewhere in the age old pages there would be written details of her father. She didn't quite need the man but she wanted to know him. Finally snatching the package off the desk she pulled away the wrapping to finally free her mother's thoughts from their prison. The cover was a faded chocolate brown leather that looked like there had once been a design engraved upon it but was now completely worn off. The book was thick and the pages slightly wrinkled with age and water marks. The lock that once held it tightly shut was long gone and the strap that once needed it hung uselessly from the side. Kelly flipped open the pages eagerly and found delight at seeing her mother's familiar scrawl on every page. Curiously Kelly flipped through the pages looking for a certain day in time. Her birthday. She wanted to know what her mother had thought the day Kelly had been born. Her face curled into a frown. There was no entry on her birthday. There was a two year gap between the entries surrounding her birthday though there was no evidence that any pages had been torn out. She looked to the entry written most recently after her birth curious if there would be any mention of her at all.

_I have not seen him for years and I wonder if I should be worried. I look for his face everywhere I go but never see it. I am writing today because for a moment I thought I saw him in the mirror this morning when I cleared it of the steam my shower had created. He had been standing behind me with that same grin I had seen him wearing years ago but when I turned to face him he was not there anymore. Once again I wondered if I was still dreaming. If everything had always been a dream. I wonder if I had ever really fallen in love with that monster or if it was just something he made me dream because it made things so much easier for him. I do believe he has that kind of power. I dare not ask him; it would mean summoning him back into my life again and I would rather not think of what that would cost me._

_Each day when I awake I, for a moment, wonder if when I open my eyes I won't be here anymore. Wake up and realise that none of this has ever happened and I dreamed it all. Wake up back at the beginning when it all started. But I never do. I am fine with that though because it means I get to wake up every day and see my daughter. I get to see Kelly. I love her so. But I look in her eyes and I know they are his. They say eyes are the window to the soul. None of this could possibly be a dream or even a nightmare. Her eyes are far too real for that. She couldn't, even if I wanted her to, be anyone but Freddy's daughter.__.._

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_IMPORTANT STORY NOTICE_

_Okay clearing up a couple of things from the first two reviews I got on this chapter for people reading this for the first time. ONE Kelly is not Freddy's LONG LOST daughter. This is 2010 meaning she would have been born late 1988. Her mother Evelyn was born in 1962 making her 26 when Kelly was concieved. There is no possible way for her to be long lost as she was created AFTER Freddy's burning. Movie timeline which will be referenced; Evelyn was in university during the years just after Nancy's events of NOES 1 in 1981. Evelyn graduates university in 1985 and Kelly is born a year after the events of NOES3: Dream Warriors and a little before NOES4 Dream Master. All of these events take place during the time that Freddy was unaccounted for in the movies. There were five years after he drove Nancy into the psyc ward where you never hear from him. And NO this is not a Freddy/Kelly romance. EW! I don't know if I would put it past Freddy but still just ew. This is between Freddy and Evelyn. So I REALLY hope that this clears a lot of things up._


	2. Chapter 2

Alright I got a couple of reviews that made me think so I figured I would clear things up a little bit. No this is not a Kelly/Freddy fiction the romance is between Evelyn and Freddy. If it can really be called much of a romance. So though I would not put it past Freddy, no this story involves no incest.

And to 'darkness takes over' Kelly is NOT Freddy's long lost daughter. I don't want to ruin any of the story but I also want to clear this up. So I will spoil a little bit by saying she was created after he was killed. But I don't want to say anymore. You will just have to read a little more to find out what the whole plan and story is.

Anyway hope that clears up. IF anyone has any problems or questions please feel free to message or review to let me know and I will make sure everything is cleared up for you.

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Chapter 2

Kelly sat in her psychology class and tapped her pen uncontrollably against her notebook as her professor continued to lecture on about the cognitive theories. The words of her mother's diary still haunted her thoughts throughout each day but she hadn't been able to force herself to read anymore since. Her mother sounded completely insane in that entry talking about what could and couldn't be real. However, she had learned her father's name. Freddy. If only she had a last name she could find him and perhaps ask him why he would leave her mother and why she would call him a monster. Perhaps her mother had been as crazy as she sounded in that entry and he couldn't stay with her once he knew. There was only one way to find out. She had been thinking about this for a couple of days now and had decided that she would read at least one entry a week. Confirming her idea to herself her gaze fell back to her professor and she continued to take notes in her perfectly curved handwriting.

After her all her classes were done and she had momentarily visited with a few of her friends she returned to her dorm room where two of her three roommates sat in the living room watching some sitcom on television.

"Hey," the thin blonde greeted as she waved a perfectly manicured hand from the couch. "Care to join us?"

Kelly grinned. "Ooh very tempting but I think I'll have to get a raincheck. I want to finish this physics homework and when I'm done I've got something personal I want to take care of."

The redhead that also sat on the couch leaned forward wrinkling her outlet mall clothes. "We better not hear any boys in there."

Kelly just laughed and shooed the girl's dirty mind away with a wave of her hand before making her way to her bedroom. It didn't take her long to finish her physics lab work. Like her Uncle Alfred she was very academically inclined and understood most things the second they were explained in class. Just as the sun was beginning to set she looked over at the old faded book that sat on her desk crying of loneliness and begging her to release its secrets. Unable to resist its call any longer she snatched the diary from the surface. She'd start from the beginning this time. She needed to know the whole story not just a piece.

The first page was worn down and Kelly imagined that her mother must have read over it quite frequently.

_I had that same dream again tonight. I couldn't ignore it anymore. I told Alfred about it and he says I should start writing my dreams down in case I need to take them to someone one day. I don't think he finds me crazy, he just said he's worried because he knows how powerful dreams can be. I'm worried too. Every night since I arrived in university I've woken up trapped inside my own mind; lost in a forest..._

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Evelyn felt the dirt and grass beneath her bare feet as if it were real and took a deep breath of the air letting the stale taste pierce her lungs. She adjusted her lavender camisole across her chest before brushing her hands down her bare legs expecting them to be cold as aside from the camisole she wore only a pair of black cotton panties. She took a step forward and felt a rock press against the pad of her foot and winced only slightly as she felt it break through the bottom. She ran a hand through her tangled brunette locks as her eyes, now grey in the light, darted around the black trees uncertainly.

Everywhere she looked there was nothing but pure blackness. She could see no tree beyond the next. Apprehensively she stepped forward wondering if somehow this dream would be different than the last. As she heard the eerie drawl of the child's song in the distance she knew it wouldn't be. Stepping forward into the blackness she began to hear the sounds of terrible unknown creatures within the trees beside her attempting to scare her off her path. She didn't fear them; Evelyn had stopped being afraid of the darkness a long time ago. Scratch marks trailed along the trees leading her into even darker parts of the woods where the trees looked pained and the song got louder. Branches pulled at her hair and scratched her legs in an attempt to hold her back and deter her. She ignored the suggestions and continued forward until the trees broke open and there was small clearing illuminated in a pale blue light.

A large house sat in the center of the clearing with a rusted and tilted swingset in the front yard. The white paint was peeled off of the side and a few panels were missing from the roof while the windows remained boarded up. On the dead grass of the front lawn Evelyn saw the most stunning children she'd ever seen jumping rope as if in slow motion. They were beautiful little girls; one of them was jumping while the other two spun the rope. Their golden curls swung about their shoulders while their frilly white Sunday dresses bounced around their petite legs and their white dress shoes stepped daintily on the dead grass. They moved much slower than time should allow them to as they smiled at Evelyn with small round faces. The words of their song were now perfectly clear as they echoed around Evelyn in such a way she knew that even if she plugged her ears the tune would still break through.

"_One,Two, Freddy's coming for you._

_Three, Four, Better lock your door._

_Five, Six, Grab your crucifix._

_Seven, Eight, Better stay awake._

_Nine, Ten, Never sleep again."_

The girl jumping rope smiled at Evelyn and held out her hands as if to ask her to join. "Come sing with us," the girl asked politely. Evelyn could only stare at the girl before the child giggled. "Maybe if you sing for him Freddy will grant your wishes too."

Evelyn could only shake her head to deny the girls; if felt like her voice had been stolen from her and would only work properly again if she opened her mouth to sing with them.

______

_I always refused to sing their song and each time I did they would fade a little more until they would disappear completely. Then and only then would I wake up._

_Alfred promised me that he would learn what he could about the meanings of symbols in dreams. All I can really say was significant to me was the house. It looked creepily familiar like I should know where I've seen it before but I just can't remember. _

~~~*~~~

Kelly stared in disbelief at the diary pages. There was that name again; Freddy. Who the hell was this guy? Her mother had thought he was a monster and had dreamt some creepy song about him as if he were some supernatural being but this man was supposed to be her father. She started to worry that perhaps her mother wasn't the person she thought she was. That perhaps she had truly been crazy. And Alfred had known? He had known about these dreams? That could only mean that he knew her father as well. Without hesitation she grabbed her cell phone and dialled her old home number.

"_Hello?"_

"Uncle Peter!"

"_Hey kiddo, how's the school life treating you?"_

"Fine. My roommates are wonderful and classes are going great."

"_Good to hear. Hold on a sec here's Alfred."_

"Thanks Uncle Peter."

There was a momentary silence with the sound of scuffling before the phone finally made it to Alfred. _"Hello Kelly! How've you been?"_

"I've been doing really well Uncle Alfred...just I had a question though. It's about my mother's dairy."

"_Well I'll answer the best I can honey, but I've never read her diary so I'm not sure what I would know about what's written in it."_

"I would hope you would know something. It says on the first page that you were the one who told her to write it."

There was a shocked silence on the other end of the phone before Alfred finally spoke again with a shaky voice. _"That...That was her dream diary?"_

"Yes."

"_Kelly I'm sorry I shouldn't have given that to you, you can't continue reading. Please stop..."_

She ignored his words. "Who was Freddy? It says in here that he was my father."

There was a terrible silence that overtook both of them and when Kelly was bored of it she hung up without waiting for his answer.

What was the deal with all of this? She felt like her father was one huge family secret and that her mother was some loony. She glared at the phone as it began to ring and threw it to the side. She didn't want to hear again that she was supposed to stop reading the diary. Now she HAD to know what secrets were hidden in this book. Ignoring the constant ringing of her phone and the increasingly late hour that her clock kept flashing at her Kelly flipped to the next entry of the book.

_I finally stopped having that dream a little over a week ago. I haven't had any dreams. But this morning I found one of Freddy's verses._

_______

Evelyn pulled the thick black towel around her body to hide it from view as she stepped out of the shower and past the door. She nearly dropped her towel in fright as she saw the first verse of Freddy's song written in the steam on the mirror. She choked back a sob as tears brimmed on her blue tinted eyes and she viciously wiped it away before fleeing to her room. It was a cruel joke! She must have mumbled the song in her sleep and one of her roommates overheard. It's the only explanation. She knew they didn't like her but why would they do this to her? She sat down on her bed and curled forward hiding her face in her hands in an attempt to hide her sobs.

Ever since she had gotten to university she had been miserable. She wasn't sure whether here or home was worse. Back home her parents had always favoured her adopted brother Alfred; at least until he had admitted that he was gay. She remembered the look of horror that had crossed their faces as she had been there holding Alfred's hand through to ordeal in order to prove to him that there was someone who would still love him. Unfortunately though after that her parents went from giving her no attention to giving her all of the attention. They wanted her to save their family from the disgrace that they believed Alfred had brought upon them. That's the only reason she was at university in the first place; her parents wanted her to be able to get the highest paying job possible with the best status. Even now they phoned and pestered her with their own dreams. Her mother was always much worse though; her poor father just seemed to be pulled along for the ride.

Now she found herself in a different kind of hell. Here she was roomed with three other people none of which she got along with. One of them, an overweight blonde named Kristina, had been going to university for five years now and was going to graduate with a business degree at the end of the year. She was the kind of person who was far too sensitive and judgemental; meaning she could insult and critique others all she wanted but the minute someone did the same to her she would cry and call victim. She had been perfectly thin when she came to school but over the years she had gained quite a bit of weight and though her curves remained her increased stomach seemed to overshadow it all. She was Evelyn's biggest problem in the dorm. Evelyn's body was the first catalyst for Kristina's ever growing hatred. Evelyn was new here and dorm food hadn't caught up with her yet. Though she only had a slight curve for her hips that was hardly noticeable her large chest certainly was. And unlike Kristina who felt she needed to cake on layers makeup with eccentric colors Evelyn had a naturally beautifully featured face. She didn't know how to apply makeup properly anyway. Kristina was also provoked by the fact that Evelyn had not instantly taken a liking to her; everyone needed to like Kristina. If not she became the worst enemy one could ever imagine in close quarters.

Another roommate, Leslie, was simply a puppet. She was the puppet of whoever cared to control her due to her inexperience with the real world and unfortunately Kristina was the first to take advantage of that. The second was Leslie's boyfriend Damian. The stick skinny blonde continued to invite him into the dorm rooms without the proper paperwork or the permission of her other roommates. He was a fat, vulgar worm of a man. He abused everyone in the dorm whenever Leslie's back was turned and never gave his actions a second thought. It was Leslie's obliviousness to the truth about her boyfriend and this man himself that made Evelyn's second problem in the dorms. She had once stood up to Darren after he had punched her in the face just because he had felt like it and ever since he had been out to get her. Whenever he was over in their dorm rooms Evelyn would lock herself in her room and just hope that he would leave her alone. He usually just banged on the door a couple times then let her be.

Evelyn didn't necessarily have a problem with her final roommate Briellen. Brie simply spent most of her time in her room studying and hadn't socialized much. After spending time with the other two Evelyn was simply too afraid to attempt to make friends with her.

She was too nonchalant to get involved in things and make any friends that way and was too timid to introduce herself to anyone in her classes. If it weren't for the frequent calls to Alfred Evelyn feared she would have lost her mind long ago. Now she felt that it was all just catching up to her.

She knew that Damian wasn't here at the moment so that left Kristina as the only possible suspect. It was certainly possible; Kristina's bedroom was the one right beside hers.

"I never did anything to deserve this," Evelyn sobbed as she ran into her room and slammed her door shut behind her.

As she collapsed onto the floor and let her face fall against the bed her towel slipped away to pool around her waist. She barely noticed the air biting at her skin. She curled forward hoping that could just disappear into herself and never return to anywhere. She never wanted to be here and she desperately wished she could go somewhere else but apparently there were no other rooms available. Suddenly she felt something akin to a knife trailing down the length of her spine and she spun around only to find nothing there. When she looked back her mouth dropped in horror. The second verse of Freddy's song was written in what she hoped was red paint along her wall.

"This is sick," she choked out angrily. "Oh god this is so sick…"

______

_I confronted my roommates later about the writing on the mirrort but they all claimed to have no idea what I was talking about. I never brought up the writing on my wall. I'm not sure whether I should believe them or not. Someone had to be doing this. Otherwise it didn't make any sense..._

Kelly's eyes brimmed with tears as she read more. Even her poor mother had thought she was going crazy. How could her roommates be so terrible as to play around with a nightmare that had terrified her as if it were a joke? Unfortunately it didn't sound like her mother had been as lucky as she was in getting good roommates. Maybe that's what had finally driven her over the edge. But that still didn't explain how she could be Freddy's daughter when Freddy was some nightmare her mother had dreamed up. The more she read the more confused she got. What exactly had happened all those years ago?


	3. Chapter 3

A thank you to Softbrush and KissxTemptationx for reviewing and keeping me inspired to write! Thank you both for your support!

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**Chapter 3**

Kelly hadn't been able to focus on her studies for quite awhile now even though she had done her best. Even though she continued to attend each class she often found her mind wandering back to the diary which she hadn't read in a week. She had hidden it deep in the back of her closet to avoid looking at it while she sorted out her own thoughts about everything she had learned.

What she knew was that her father's name was Freddy. That it appeared as though her mother dreamt of him before she had ever met him, or perhaps it was just a coincidence that the two had the same name. Also that this song her mother had dreamt about had been found written out in numerous locations.

This writings could have simply been a figment of Evelyn's imagination or someone truly had been playing a terrible prank upon her. These were the only reasonable explanations.

Kelly hadn't spoken to Alfred since that night as she was unsure of what she could say to him that would ease his mind. She knew he wanted her to tell him that she would never open that diary again but she could not make that promise to him. It would be a lie.

She had spoken to her psychology professor about the dream diary and that perhaps he might be able to give her insight. Unfortunately his only explanation was that her mother's stress level had put her into a mild state of psychosis in which she began to have hallucinations. Kelly was starting to believe that was true, but it still didn't explain a couple of things. It didn't explain why Uncle Alfred had been so insistent that she stop reading or why Evelyn had believed that this figure of her imagination had been Kelly's father. There was only one thing to do that could explain it all; read the rest of the diary.

Class ended quickly for her and she closed her notebook and left physics behind her. Something far more interesting than the mathematical inner workings of the world called to her. The diary beckoned her with its secrets. Those scribbled words that were leading her deeper and deeper inside her mother's mind. She burst into her dorm room which was empty for the moment and slid into her bedroom where she quickly pulled out the diary from its hiding place underneath her mattress. She had started putting it there when one of her roommates almost stumbled upon it while looking for Kelly's stapler. She had already decided that no one was to see her mother's diary; girls were far too curious and loved gossip too much to be subject to secrets like that. She made sure her door was locked before she shoved her backpack beneath the desk and flopped onto her bed. She flipped the book open to the page she had carefully marked with a bright red maple leaf.

_A lot of people would say that my first mistake was letting these dreams bother me so much. That would be a lie. You would be a fool to ignore what your dreams tell you. Mine were telling me I was in trouble. So all those who would say that were wrong; being worried was not my first mistake. I know for a fact that that title belonged to my mistake of confiding in my roommate Kristina when she reached out to me..._

* * *

Evelyn carefully made her into the kitchen as her blue-grey eyes darted around nervously.

Over the past few weeks she had seen the last few verses of Freddy's song. The third one had been written in the usage instructions of Briellen's shampoo. Evelyn had seen them when she had accidentally knocked it over and just reached to pick it up and place the bottle back on the edge of the tub. The next verse she had seen written in bright white letters on the back of someone's tee-shirt. She had discovered the final verse written in her calculus notebook one day; all of her notes had been erased and it was written once in the center of each blank page.

Now she was constantly paranoid; someone was messing with her. Nothing had happened for a while so she was worried that she was due for a good scare any day now. She hadn't been dreaming lately either.

Evelyn kept her gaze glued to her surroundings as backed against the refrigerator and groped the door for the handle. When she finally found it and opened the door a jar of mayonnaise fell to the ground with a large clunk and she released a terrified scream as she spun around and pressed herself back against the wall. She stared at the unbroken jar with wide and frightened eyes; her breathing was rapid and shallow. She slid to the ground and continued to watch it as if something would happen to it the very second she looked away.

"What's going on with you?"

Evelyn gasped and pushed herself against the wall so desperately she might have disappeared into it. Kristina stood at the entrance to the kitchen staring down at her with raised eyebrows.

"You've been really skiddish for, like, weeks now," she said bluntly as she casually stepped forward and placed the mayonnaise jar back in the fridge.

Evelyn choked out an awkward laugh and forced a smile as she slowly clambered to her feet. "I guess I just watched too many horror movies the other weekend. They're really getting me I guess."

Kristina's face seemed to hover between surprise and annoyance before her sharp featured face finally contorted into disappointment. "You don't have to lie to me you know. Eve, we're roommates. That means that while we're here we're family and you should be able to trust your family."

Evelyn almost choked on her own disbelief as she stared at Kristina while attempting to bite back her words. You _should_ be able to trust your family, but she wouldn't trust Kristina any farther than she could throw her. She could almost see the blonde's ulterior motive as if it were a tangible thing. Something in her mind told her to just spit in Kristina's face and laugh at the concept, but a smaller part of her mind that whispered just a little bit louder told her that this was what she needed. Evelyn needed to feel like someone cared, like someone thought about her. Right now, when she felt as if her mind were falling away piece by piece, she needed that more than anything. At this moment it didn't matter if she was wrong to tell Kristina the truth because she didn't know how just much longer she could keep it all bottled up inside of her. Even if she knew the comfort was false it was better than nothing. Alfred could only do so much for her while so far away.

"Actually," Evelyn began cautiously. "It's these...nightmares I have been having lately." She finally managed to get the refrigerator open and grab the apple she had come in for. "They're really starting to get me." She ran a hand back through her tousled hair and glanced at the floor. "Remember a while ago when I asked everyone if they'd written anything on the mirror while I was in the shower?"

Kristina nodded and crossed her arms over her too tight scarlet pajamas. "Yeah I do." Her tone was a little harsh as if she felt she were being accused of something and was becoming prepared to defend herself.

"The reason that bothered me so much was because the words that were written on the mirror...I had been dreaming them. They were the verse in this song I had been hearing in my nightmares for awhile." Evelyn finally looked Kristina in the eye with a watered gaze. "I'm scared Kristina, it doesn't make any sense and it scares me. Something you dream about shouldn't just be in the real world."

"Oh hunny," Kristina cooed before she pulled the shaking brunette into her arms for an uncomfortable hug. "We dream about real things all the time. Maybe that sentence had been written on the mirror the night before and that's why you started dreaming about it."

Evelyn went rigid at the contact. It felt strange and awkward to be held by this woman. She wasn't quite sure if that was because she hadn't been hugged like this in so long or because she knew the comfort meant by it was false. It had felt good to finally talk to someone other than Alfred about her dreams but this was much more than she had wanted.

"Thanks," was all Evelyn could manage as she pushed herself out of Kristina's hold. Her face twitched with the beginnings of a grateful smile but never quite made it. Evelyn started her way back to her room but stopped just at her door frame. "Thanks too...for listening to me. You made me feel a little better."

Kristina never responded and Evelyn quickly shuffled into her room where, after eating her apple, she fell into another dreamless sleep.

The rays of sun broke through the cracks in Evelyn's blinds and warmed the side of her face as she woke. It was later in the morning than she usually awoke; around ten to be exact. She crawled out from beneath her sheets and readjusted her wrinkled black tank before emerging from her small quarters. Kristina and Leslie were already at their commerce class and the door to Briellen's room was ajar as proof that she was awake. Evelyn yawned as she made her way the bathroom sink.

"Evelyn?"

She spun around and found Briellen standing there with an unreadable look on her face. It was almost alien for Evelyn to see Brie outside of her room and even more so to see her returning her gaze.

"Morning Brie," she replied in a voice still heavy with sleep.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Brie gestured back to her room with a sweep of her arm.

Evelyn nodded and hesitantly followed her in. Brie's room wasn't as clean as Evelyn had expected it to be; homework and clothes were piled in the closet. Her bed was made and smoothed out but that was instantly ruined when Brie sat on it and stared up at Evelyn.

Brie was a short girl with bright orange hair that came naturally to her and a pale freckled face that was wrought with seriousness. She always wore conservative clothes and heeled shoes that helped her seem taller.

"Evelyn I need you to be honest with me." It was a very direct way of starting a conversation but Evelyn liked that; she hated people only hinting at what they wanted. "Did you talk to Kristina about a nightmare?"

Evelyn frowned in confusion but nodded her head. "Yeah, just last night."

"Shit," Brie hissed out as she looked away for a moment. She heaved out a huge sigh and rested her face her hand. "I knew I should've gotten to know you sooner."

"What? Brie what's going on?" Evelyn's breathing began to get panicky. It had only been one night what the hell could have happened?

"You don't talk to Kristina!" Brie nearly yelled the words as she stood up but made sure to calm herself before she spoke again. "She's...not the kind of person you want to get involved with AT ALL. She's what my mother likes to call a 'shit disturber'. Someone who starts drama so that they can thrive off of it...she's a fucking parasite. Why do you think I sit in my room all the time? It's so I don't get involved in any of this. I had wanted to warn you about her as soon as you moved in but you kept to yourself so much I had figured you'd be fine."

Evelyn could only stand there and stare at the redhead. Her face could barely manage an expression as every human emotion bubbled through her features. "Brie," she began. Her voice was quiet and emotionless though it shook like an earthquake. "What happened."

Brie sighed and looked at Evelyn with such pity her heart nearly crumbled. "She took what you told her and twisted it into a terrible story. She came out of her room this morning crying saying that you were a lunatic. That you had started talking crazy last night and that she was afraid that you would lose it and kill her in her sleep."

"What?!" Evelyn's face contorted in fury and disbelief. "That's a damn lie! She asked why I was jumpy and all I told her was that my nightmares had been scaring me!"

Briellen's laughter was like a harsh winter as it coated and filled the room. "Don't you get it? I know! I was awake and I could hear you guys talking in the kitchen last night. It doesn't matter! She wants to play the victim here and still be the good person. She can't do that with you around because she knows everyone would like you more; you're pretty and you're nice. She'll do and say whatever it takes to drag your name through the mud because she wants to be better than you, and you finally gave her something to work with."

Evelyn gritted her teeth and glared at the floor. She should have trusted her first feelings and not said a word to the wretched blonde. She should have just stayed hidden in her room. Suddenly her fear and apprehension kicked in again and she took a step away from Briellen before she could stop herself.

"Why should I trust you anymore than her? Assuming what you're telling me is true."

"Because she already did this to me. And I think...if you're going to stick it out here then maybe I should start coming out of my room a little more often. It doesn't hurt to have at least one friend when you're surrounded by enemies. You may still lose but at least you'll have something good to remember."

Evelyn couldn't help but let a laugh bubble through her dry lips as her face finally cracked into a smile. "Yeah I guess you're right."

Briellen smiled and Evelyn felt it was the most beautiful and warming thing she had seen in a long time. "Then let's start over." She held her hand out to her. "Briellen Parker."

Evelyn let the smile warm her features as she accepted the hand. "Evelyn Black."

* * *

..._She is the first friend I have made since before I can remember. It makes me happy to know that in this hell I have at least one ally. And she was right too. Against all my morals I eavesdropped on Leslie and Kristina talking when they got back from classes. Kristina had taken everything I had told her and twisted it immensely! This crazed fool was honestly making people believe that I was going to kill her! I don't think anything could make this situation worse._

_I lied. Brie just came into my room and told me what I had been unable to hear them saying once they entered Leslie's room. Kristina was pretending to be so terrified that she asked Leslie to invite Damian up to the dorms to protect her until she could get me to leave the dorms. I don't know what to do. I can't leave dorms. I have nowhere near the school to stay and if I leave and go back home I can't imagine what my parents would do. I have to stay here. And without any proof of me being a threat Kristina can't get me kicked out of residence. And now Damian is coming here. Oh god I don't know what to do anymore. He'll destroy me. She's basically giving him permission to destroy me._

_This is all the fault of those stupid dreams! Just in case this is my last entry I want whoever is reading this to please learn from my life about the horrors of people. That just because things don't look wrong on the outside doesn't mean that behind closed doors things aren't falling apart. _

"Oh my god," Kelly sobbed as her tears began to stain the already worn pages. Whether she had been crazy or not Kelly knew her mother was the gentlest person she had ever known. She could never have hurt anyone or even thought of it. She didn't deserve any of what had happened to her. Kelly only prayed that this Kristina girl had gotten whatever she deserved for doing this to such an innocent person.

What kind of man was this Damian that her mother had honestly believed she that something would happen to her? How could Kristina invite a man like that into her home? These were horrible people. How long had her mother had to live through this?

She flipped through the pages. These entries had been written in 1982. She flipped ahead. The entries went from 1982 till 1985 and then stopped until 1988 just before Kelly had been born. So she had written these throughout her entire stay at university; Kelly wondered if she had actually completed all her schooling with all of this going on.

There were a few entries scattered throughout the years Kelly was growing up and the final one was written in 2010. Evelyn had written these until she died.

Kelly glanced at the clock and realised she had read most of the night away and if she didn't go to bed soon she wouldn't be rested enough for her classes tomorrow. She hesitated slightly as she flipped the book shut. She didn't know if she would be able to wait another week before reading the next entry but she promised she'd do her best. Perhaps in the meantime she'd look up what she could about a Miss Briellen Parker.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

"Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies in the heart of mankind," Kelly spoke in flawless Japanese before looking up from her text to seek approval from her professor.

"Perfect," he cooed before allowing Kelly to sit back down and moving onto the next student.

She released a sigh and she slid into her seat where she stared uncomfortably at the quote she had just read. It had been spoken by Edward D. Morrison and she didn't think that the man could have been anymore right. After reading what she had of her mother's diary she had started to notice things about the people around her that hadn't struck her before. She began to see the sneers pretty girls would flash to the backs of more academically inclined girls as they passed by each other in the halls. She began to witness the bullying that occurred in every corner of the school. How had she missed it before? It was like she had been blind her whole life and had only just now opened her eyes to see.

She knew exactly what her mother would have told her about that. Evelyn would have said, "It's because you live such a blessed life. You are beautiful but modest. Smart but not arrogant. You are kind but you are no one's fool. The friends you have are good and true, and the family you have loves you so very much. Your life is very blessed. But many of those kids are not as lucky as you to have all that. Not all of the beautiful people can be smart as well, and this is why they hold such resentment towards those smarter than them. It is the same for the smart people, not all of them can be beautiful. Not every child has a loving home to return to everyday. Some of them get things handed to them while others worked hard for everything they have and still have hardly anything. You're lucky that you'll never have to be a part of those worlds."

It was true; until she had read her mother's diary she hadn't been quite sure that people like that truly existed. It was like watching your first horror movie and suddenly every shadow hides a psycho and every dream hides a nightmare. You begin to see things you had never believed in at every turn.

Kelly stayed consumed by her thoughts until her classes ended for the day. She seemed to come to her senses just in time to respond to her teacher before her mind started up right where she had left it. Walking back through the hallways she did her best to ignore the evils she knew were teeming around her. It was probably the hardest task that she had ever attempted. But as she walked her steps began to slow at the whispering sounds of protest that one of the engineer students cried as a couple of the basketball jocks pushed him around. She was no better than any of these people...not if she kept of walking. Sure ignoring the problems would have been the easiest thing to do but then she would have been just as bad as everyone else who ignored them. She finally pulled herself to a halt and looked over to the scene that she had been trying so hard to take no notice of only moments ago.

She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. What could she say? What could she do? She closed her mouth and sadness coated her face and her lips knit themselves together. Maybe this was why no one ever did anything. Life was just easier if you didn't get involved.

She wavered as she attempted to walk away from the scene; it felt like something was holding her feet in place. Suddenly all she could think of was her mother and how things might have been different if someone had stood up for her. How thousands of situations across the world would have been different.

"Hey!"

She pulled out her cell phone as fast as she could and used the small camera on it to take a picture as soon as they all looked her way.

"Back off," she warned. "Or this picture goes right to the Dean and you'll never see the inside of this school again much less play basketball anywhere."

The jocks glared over at her and for a moment threatened to come after her but settled for shoving her to the side as they walked past her. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief that she wasn't going to get her face rearranged anytime today.

"You okay?" She went over and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder causing him to snap out of whatever daze he had fallen into.

"Yeah...I am now. Thanks." He offered her the biggest smile she'd ever seen as he pushed his abnormally large round glasses up the bridge of his nose.

She couldn't help but return the smile. "I'm glad I could help. I can't believe there are people like that out there. Why didn't any of your friends help you out?"

His chuckle shook the soft blonde locks that framed his face and he shifted his hold on his textbooks. "Well maybe if I had any here they would have. All my friends went to different schools; I haven't made any new ones here."

Kelly offered her hand to him and watched as his green eyes darted between her gesture and her face. "Well, I'd be honored if you would let me be the first. I'm Kelly Black."

His features lit up and he eagerly took her hand. "Luke Quinlin."

They walked back to the dorms together where they said goodbye and she found he lived only two floors below her. She quickly made her way to her room where she discarded her homework to the side and snatched the diary from its hiding place.

She wished that her mother was still alive so that she could call her and tell her about helping Luke today; she knew her mother would have been unbelievably proud of her. She only hoped Evelyn would have been as lucky. Though Evelyn had not died like she had feared she would there were plenty of worse things that could have happened to her.

_I have been sneaking around the dorm all day. I'm not even sure that Damian has arrived yet but I don't really want to find out. It is sad that I can't even be comfortable in my own home...not that I really have been comfortable before but at least I could walk around without fear. I think I might ask Briellen if she'll stay in my room with me or if I can stay in hers. I'm too afraid to be by myself..._

* * *

Evelyn's breathing was heavy and rapid as she wedged her desk chair underneath the already locked doorknob. She wasn't taking any chances; Damian had had no issues with striking her before and she doubted he'd care now. Her chest heaved with each breath below her oversized navy sweater and she slid to her knees on the floor. Before locking herself in her room she had prepared for the night; her dinner was already cooked and sitting on a plate on her desk along with three glasses of water. She had also made sure to retrieve anything she had in the kitchen or bathroom so she could pack it into one of the shelves in her room in case he would take his anger out on her things. Luckily she didn't have a lot of stuff so it fit easily in into her small bedroom. A sudden knocking at her door brought Evelyn to her feet again.

"Briellen," she called out hopefully.

"No, it's Kristina. Why is your door locked hun? Can I come in?"

Evelyn nearly vomited flames at that moment. She had forgotten; she hadn't spoken to that wretched blonde since her conversations with Briellen and the eavesdropping that ensued. Hissing angrily it also reminded her that she hadn't even called Alfred about the whole situation. She'd have to remember to do that later but right now she had to deal with the problem at her door.

"No you can't," Evelyn spat back.

"Hunny, why not? What's wrong? You sound stressed." The door knob clicked to both ways as Kristina attempted to turn it. "Let me come in."

"Never!" Evelyn found herself screaming in return unable to hold back her rage. "I'm never letting you into my life again you backstabbing bitch! Stop pretending you're such a fucking saint! You're not! You're worse than anyone else in world because you keep pretending to be something you're not! So you just stay the fuck out of my life! You've done more than enough you pathetic bitchy little coward!"

The area went silent and Evelyn fell to the group once again as she just couldn't find the energy to hold herself up anymore. It had felt amazing to get all of her feelings for Kristina out into the open even though it hadn't quite been to her face. It was some kind of closure. Evelyn only hoped that it didn't come back to bite her in the ass.

She double checked the security of her lock and chair before picking up the phone and pulling it as far as the cord would stretch so she could crawl into the closet. She hoped that if she were far enough away from the wall and door Kristina wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on her.

The old hand-me-down phone rang dulling in her ear a few times while she curled into a tighter ball.

"_Hello?"_

Dammit, it was Mother. "Hello Mother. Can I please speak to Alfred?"

"_That's it? You don't even have the manners to ask how your own mother is?"_

"I'm very sorry Mom, I do I was just in a hurry I wasn't thinking. How have you guys been?"

"_Well apparently you don't really care so I will just call Alfred down." _Evelyn rolled her eyes during the silence though she was still thankful that the conversation with her mother hadn't dragged on as long as she had expected it would. There was a slight crackle from the earpiece as the phone was passed from one hand to the next. _"Hello? Evelyn?"_

"Yeah Alfred it's me," she said her voice barely above a whisper as she glanced back towards the door for a second.

"_Oh thank God! I hadn't heard from you in so long I feared the worst! Are you doing well? Are you eating enough? What's happening over there? You know I can ask my boyfriend for the car to drive out and get you."_

The genuine concern in her brother's voice brought a small smile to her ghostly pale face. "No you don't need to do that but thanks Alfred. And besides you know what Mom and Dad would be like if I came home from school without finishing the year first."

"_Of course, you're right. I'm just worried is all. Why haven't you called me lately? I tried calling a couple of time but you never answered!"_

Evelyn vaguely remembered the phone ringing at her occasionally but recently her mind had been too consumed with its own thoughts to really comprehend things like that.

"I'm sorry Alfred. You know I wouldn't do that on purpose."

Her face fell into a sorrowful expression as she pulled her jean clad knees to her chest and stared at the floor. If she continued on with this conversation like she had intended to she would only worry Alfred. She had needed to speak to him; she was terrified and knew he was the only thing that could calm her right now. But she could no longer bring herself to tell him why they hadn't spoken in so long. She loved him too much to put him through that. It didn't matter that he wasn't her real brother. She wondered if they had been born siblings if they would have been as close as they were. She knew that if she told him about the things happening right now it would destroy him inside to be unable to help her. So she lied.

"I was just really busy with my school before so I made sure I would call you tonight." She cracked a small smile; it was very unfortunate that Alfred couldn't see it. "Guess what Alfie, I made a friend."

"_Oh Evelyn really? I'm so happy for you! What's their name, what are they like?"_

"It's Briellen, my other roommate. We finally spoke the each other and it turns out she's really nice. We've been spending a lot of time together. We like all the same books and a lot of the same movies. I'm very happy here now. It's getting a lot better for me Alfred."

"_Her? Really? Oh that's wonderful to hear, no wonder you haven't called me at all! You two must have been busy getting to know each other."_

"Yes, that's right." Her voice held steady at the sound of his happiness though large tears caressed their way down her cheeks. "Well I think Brie wants to start our movie now so I should probably go. I just really wanted to touch base with you Alfie. I miss you so much." She knew that if she didn't get off the phone soon she'd start sob and then he would be able to tell she wasn't okay. She only hoped that he never found out what she had been hiding from him while she was alive. She would never forgive herself if he ever knew.

"_Awe I miss you too Lyn. Take care. Promise if I call you tomorrow night you'll answer?"_

"I promise the phone won't ever leave my side," she agreed. "...I love you Alfie."

"_Love you too Sis."_

She hung up the phone first unable to hold back any longer. The tears flowed relentlessly down her cheeks as she sobbed into her knees in the hopes that no one would hear her. She wasn't sure how long she sat there curled into herself in fear and shame. It was dark outside when the sudden banging on her door startled her to her feet.

"What're you doin' hiding in there?"

"Leave me alone," Evelyn screamed at the door. "I didn't do anything!"

"Bullshit!" The door shook again as Damian slammed his shoulder against it from the outside. "I heard what you said to Kris! Sounds like psycho talk to me!"

"It takes one to know one," she called back before she could stop her words.

The banging stopped and she knew that her words had not gone unheeded. She ran towards the door and managed to throw herself against it just as he did in a foolish attempt to keep him at bay. But the lock shattered and the chair propped against the door crashed against her stomach. The wind flew out of her lungs as she fell to the ground.

"What did you say you little shit?"

She looked up as she coughed desperately for breath to find him looming over her enjoying his little feeling of power. His wicked black framed glasses were perched at the end of his fat nose so that he could peer down at her. She cowered away from him but his hand launched out to grab a fistful of her sweatshirt and he yanked her to her feet. Evelyn could only cringe away from him as his face pressed furiously towards hers. No words would come to her; she couldn't even manage one last defensive remark to him. He took her silence as his defiant answer and threw her body out into the hall where her spine dented the pale beige wall. She crumpled to the ground and couldn't even find the strength to cry.

If only she hadn't fought back that one time then perhaps right now his intended beating wouldn't be so fierce. He was seeking revenge for her defiance; Kristina was simply his excuse. That's right; this was all Kristina's fault. Evelyn's eyes fell to Kristina's room as she hadn't thought to shut her door before this and drank in the look on the blonde's face. There was nothing written there; no sorrow, no fear, no arrogance, no happiness. It was a blank unfeeling slate and Evelyn surmised that her heart would been looked she same.

Damian pulled her up buy the front of her shirt again until her feet dangled above the floor and her head lolled to the side so that she wouldn't have to look at him. Instead she found Leslie standing at the end of the hall in front of her door. Their eyes met and for a moment Leslie almost looked afraid before she jerked her head away from the sight.

"Not going to say anything," Damian demanded as he slammed her against the wall in a show of superiority. He scoffed. "You think you're so much better than everyone else. Well guess what you're not."

Her eyes finally began to water as the pain and anticipation finally sank in but she refused to cry just yet. Instead she looked up at him. She didn't know what would happen to her after this but she wanted to say something that they would all surely remember.

However the only words she could find stayed frozen to her tongue as she stared up at him. In that silence he struck her. His fist came across the side of her face as he let go of her and she flew to the ground. The noise around her dulled as her blood pumped loudly in her ears. She never saw his foot coming until it connected wrathfully with her stomach. Evelyn's eyes went wide and she coughed out furiously until he kicked her again and forced all her breath from her. He picked her up so that he could punch her properly before letting her drop to the ground once more. Pain seared through her body and she couldn't help but let out a scream when his foot crashed down on her wrist. Her vision began to black at the corners when she laid eyes on her now shattered wrist and saw a small bone poking through the top surrounded by gently oozing blood. She didn't fight the darkness. If she could be asleep for whatever remained of her punishment that would truly be heaven. Her senses dulled even more with another kick so she never heard Briellen's cry of fury as she opened the door. And by the time Brie's feet were anywhere near her vision her eyes had already closed.

Evelyn slowly blinked back to life and found herself standing in the all too familiar forest. She glanced down at her wrist in worry to find it was perfectly fine. Of course it would be, she thought to herself, this is only a dream. Which meant she had definitely blacked out. Only this time she feared that meant she would never wake up and that she would be stuck in this dream world forever. There was, of course, only one way to find out. She looked around until a familiar tune graced her ears and she followed it deep into the heart of the woods. She moved faster than usual and soon found herself blessed with the sight of the old run down house and the children in its yard. Only this time when they saw her they stopped spinning their rope and the one little girl in the middle ran towards Evelyn eagerly.

"We've missed you," she cried. "Why would you go away for so long?"

The child's words reminded her very much of Alfred's and before Evelyn could stop herself large tears rolled their way down her cheeks as she stared helplessly at the children.

"Is big sister hurting inside?" The child tilted her head in curiosity and her large golden curls bounced down her shoulders and against her rosy cheeks. She held out her hand and smiled. "If you come with us he can make the hurt go away."

He. This Freddy. Was this his house then? "Is this...'his' house?" The question fell from Evelyn's lips. Maybe this was just a dream but there was something memorable about that house even though she had never known a Freddy.

All three of the girls shook their heads. "This is Nancy's house. It was always his favourite house."

Evelyn gasped as she finally recognized it. Nancy had lived a couple blocks down from her; Evelyn had passed it quite a few times when her and Alfred would go for jogs. Nancy...she vaguely remembered that only a little while ago there had been a big commotion involving her. Her parents had never spoken much of it saying that the situation was too disgraceful to speak of. So why would Nancy's house be in her dream?

The little girl tugged on the sleeve of Evelyn's sweatshirt and pulled her from her mind. "You never answered me. Will you come play with us? Freddy will make your hurt go away."

Evelyn stared at the girl. She wasn't sure she wanted to wake up this time. Would she sleep forever if she finally said yes? Perhaps she had been answering wrong this entire time.

"Alright," she replied as she used the back of her sleeve to wipe away the tears. She sniffed and offered the girl a weak smile before she followed them back to where they had dropped their rope.

"You have to sing for us," the little girl ordered as she turned to face Evelyn. "My voice is tired and you're too tall. We can't swing high enough." Evelyn hesitated for a moment before the girl took her hands and smiled at her again. "I promise Freddy won't let you down. If you sing his song and help us jump he'll make all your hurt go away."

Evelyn nodded as she sat on the grass a little ways away so the girls could swing the jump rope properly. What did she have to lose? For all she knew this all meant that she was dead and perhaps if she did this she would never wake up again. Then she would never know if Alfie found out about her lies or what damage had been done. Even though she was scared about sleeping forever she also knew that waking up would mean she would have to go back to that terrible dorm and see those people who ignored her agony. And so she sang as softly as she could.

"_One,Two, Freddy's coming for you._

_Three, Four, Better lock your door._

_Five, Six, Grab your crucifix._

_Seven, Eight, Better stay awake._

_Nine, Ten, Never sleep again."_

The wind howled and curled around the house as it spun away from the clearing and into the trees that shivered away from it. "I won't disappoint you," the wind growled in return.


	5. Chapter 5

Once again thank you to may faithful reviewers thedeathchandelier, KissxTemptationx, and Softbrush! You guys keep me inspired and writing! And a big thanks to my newest reviewer Zerousy who I forgot to thank last chapter. Thank you guys for sticking with me! I made this chapter extra long so I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5

"Evelyn?"

Evelyn found her eyes sliding open once again only this time they were viciously assaulted by a bright white atmosphere. She groaned and rolled her head to the side in hopes it wouldn't hurt her eyes as much from there and felt a pillow with no give to it press against her cheek.

"Evelyn you're awake!"

That was Briellen's voice. Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut and tried to open them again in hopes she'd be able to see better. It didn't work very well.

"Brie? Is that you? What happened? Where am I?"

"Yeah it's me," Briellen reassured her as she placed a gentle hand on Evelyn's shoulder. "I'll be right back I have to go let the doctor know you're awake. Don't move a muscle."

Evelyn listened to the retreating footsteps as she tried to squint enough to properly see the room she was in. If Brie was going to get the doctor that must mean that they were in the hospital. She wondered what the extent of the damage was. Wait...this meant that she was alive. Evelyn pressed her eyes tightly shut again as if that alone would blot out that fact. If she was awake that would mean that she would have to go back to that room...go back to those people. To those horrible people that had been able to just stand by and watch as someone was brutally beaten. She hated them all...

"Lyn you idiot!"

Her eyes snapped back open at the sound of that voice and she spun her head to face the door. There amidst the endless white was a small dark opening that held a distressed and furious figure.

"Alfred?"

He never replied to her as he stormed over to the bed with Brie and the doctor right behind him. His eyes were red and swollen so she knew that he had been crying all night long. That raised another question for her; how long had she been here. He fell to his knees beside her bed but held his hands away as the doctor had wanted to talk to her first.

"Miss Black I'm Doctor Harlen, how are you feeling today?" The doctor began politely.

"I... don't really know. I'm tired and the light hurts," she told him dully.

Brie instantly reached for the dimmer switch and brought the lights down so that the doctor would continue. "I hope that's a little better for you Miss Black. Now I would just like to check your reactions to see how you're doing today." He pulled the stethoscope from around his neck and pressed it to various parts of her chest as he asked her to deeply breathe in and out slowly. He then helped her sit up so he could do the same while pressing the cold metal to her back. "Alright now I'm going to press in certain places and I need you to tell me if it hurts and how much." Evelyn nodded and he began to use two fingers to push against various parts of her body all the way from her head to her toes. When he was done he scribbled a few things down on the notepad that had been lying on the counter by her bed.

"Alright well it looks like you should be able to leave whenever you're ready," he told her with a bright smile. "We already put a cast on your hand when you came in last night; you'll need to keep that on for at least six weeks. It's a complete displaced compound fracture so we couldn't just leave it until you woke up."

Evelyn's blank stare told him that she hadn't understood much more than the part about it taking six weeks to heal. "That means that the fracture completely broke the bone; it wasn't connected anywhere. Also that the ends of the broken bone weren't close to each other and that the skin had been broken through. Because of this we had to reconnect the bone as soon as possible. Anyway I would like you come back in six weeks so I can check on the healing process. For now just try not to traumatize the injury at all. As for the rest of your body; there appears to be no internal injuries but there will be some severe bruising judging by your reactions. Take it really easy for the rest of the week."

Evelyn nodded her head and her eyes fell to the thick white cast that encased her hand and wrist. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Doctor Harlen smiled. "You're very welcome. Please let me know if and when you decide to leave. "

He headed through the door and the very second he was gone Alfred practically leapt upon the bed as he struggled to embrace Evelyn.

"Oh Lyn you idiot! You stupid stupid idiot," he cried into her shoulder.

"Alfred..." She hung her head in shame unsure of what she could say to him.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything? If Brie hadn't called I'd still be at home and I wouldn't know a thing!"

Evelyn's face stretched in surprise as her head jerked over to Briellen. "You...called him?"

Briellen nodded as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Yeah. I got into the room just a little after you blacked out I think. I had just run into your room for your care card when I saw that picture of you and Alfred on your desk. I had actually thought he was your boyfriend or something. I remembered you saying something about not wanting to call your parents so I hoped his number would be the last on redial so I gave it a quick try before leaving."

Alfred nodded his head into her shoulder drawing Evelyn's eyes back to him. "I hopped on the next plane. I only got here about an hour ago...you've been out of it for twelve hours..." His sobs started up again and Evelyn pulled him into a hug despite the aches it shot through her body.

"I'm sorry Alfie...I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you anything."

"You should be!" His voice was warm and harsh through the thin material of her hospital gown. "I'm your brother and you're my sister! That means I'm supposed to be stronger than you and braver than you so I can protect you! How can I protect you when you won't let me?"

Evelyn couldn't stop the tears as they tumbled down her cheeks to mingle with the stains Alfred's tears had already created. "I promise I'll tell you everything from now on, no matter what Alfie."

Briellen just smiled at them as she placed a comforting hand on Evelyn's back and let them cry to each other.

Alfred's hand was curled delicately around Evelyn's good hand as they stood outside the door to the dorm room with Briellen holding the key at the ready.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Alfred gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he pulled his gaze from the door to look at her.

Evelyn nodded slowly and Brie unlocked the door. The sight that greeted them startled the group and froze all three mid stride. Kristina was sitting at the kitchen table clutching a tissue box in her lap with one hand while the other held a tissue that she was using to theatrically dab her eye. She was still wearing her pajamas which consisted of short gray shorts and yellow tank top that was too tight in all the wrong places. Across the table from her sat a policeman with his hat held firmly on the table. His black hair was slicked back across his long face with its serious features.

"Hello," the police man greeted calmly.

"H-Hello," Evelyn stammered in return.

"What's going on here," Briellen demanded as she stepped forward. The frown that coated her features caused Kristina to recoil and clutch at her tissue box in quiet desperation.

"YOU!" The cry erupted from the end of the hall as Leslie flew from her room towards them.

She reached out towards Evelyn with furious and desperately clawing fingers only to be blocked by Alfred who received a sharp scratch against his cheek. "YOU DID THIS!"

"Miss control yourself," the policeman ordered as he launched himself from the chair and held the crazed girl at bay. He hooked his hands through her arms to keep them securely behind her while she screamed and kicked out. "Miss," he began again as he attempted to reason with her. "I understand that you are hurting a lot right now but if you can't calm yourself and return to your room then I'm going to have to charge you with assault and take you in despite the circumstances."

Leslie's small chest heaved with angry breaths before she yanked herself out of the officer's grasp and stormed back towards her room. Her eyes still sent an icy burn through Evelyn's body even after they had disappeared behind a door and she shivered as she wrapped herself around Alfred's arm.

"What the hell was that all about?" Brie didn't bother censoring her exclamation as she stared at the cop with wide eyes. "What in the world is going on?"

"I'm going to ask that you please sit down for this," the officer began as he took his seat at the table again. "You can go back to your room now Miss Nyharsha."

Evelyn paused for a moment at the sound of Kristina's last name. It was very peculiar. Very foreign sounding. It was at that moment she realised she had never heard Kristina's last name before. She really didn't know very much about the people she lived with at all.

Kristina hesitated but finally left and returned to her room where she slammed the door and proceeded, as Evelyn believed, to call her parents about whatever had just happened.

Ignoring her thoughts for a moment Evelyn sat down on the tiny couch beside Alfred while Brie took a seat where Kristina had just been.

"My name is Officer Ross," he started politely. "I'm here on an investigation. First I would like to go around and I'll have you all introduce yourselves to me and then tell me what you were doing last night."

Alfred frowned at the officer who carefully met his gaze with an emotionless one. Alfred desperately wanted to demand why they were being questioned but over the years he had discovered it was best to simply do as a policeman says without question. Especially when they won't tell you why you're being interrogated. At moments like that asking questions and being uncooperative or difficult usually made it so that you appeared guiltier dispute the truthfulness of whatever your story was.

It took him a moment to push his suspicions to the back of his mind before he forced a nearly pained smile at Officer Ross. "Of course Officer." He placed a hand of Evelyn's shoulder and his smile turned genuine as he looked at her. "Why don't you start off and then Brie and then I will continue on from what we know."

Evelyn nodded before she began her story and the series of events that occurred last night were slowly recounted for the officer. He would politely interject with questions on occasion before allowing them to continue as he listened intently to every word even though he held a small box machine in his hand that was recording it all. When they finished he leaned back in his chair and regarded them closely with tired analytical eyes. He offered them no smiles of comfort or reassurance and Evelyn attempted to gulp down her anxiety.

A long moment passed before Officer Ross finally spoke up. "I'm here because Damian Johnson was murdered last night."

"What?" Evelyn's mouth fell down in shock. That was impossible! That man was like a cockroach; if he was going to be murdered karma would have taken care of that a long time ago! It just didn't make any sense! There should have just been Leslie and Kristina in here last night and Evelyn doubted that either of them could have or would have done this.

"I won't go into any details but we don't have any evidence yet as to who might have done this. So far Evelyn you're the only one with a motive but as long as your story checks out I don't see how any of you could have done it." He brushed a hand back through his hair as he released another sigh. "I would like you to give me a few more details about your interactions. Like the name of the man across the hall who you got to call the ambulance Brie, the doctor and the airline so that I can double check all your stories." He turned to look at Alfred. "I understand that you don't live around here but until your story clears I need you to stick around."

Alfred reluctantly agreed and after a few more statements the policeman left and the three were left staring down the hall. They didn't know what to think or feel.

"I think I need to go for a walk," Brie stated solemnly as she turned around and left the siblings standing in the all too quiet dorm. Suddenly Leslie's door swung open and she stood there with a distraught look on her face.

"You killed him...you had to have," she accused Evelyn though all the conviction from earlier was gone from her voice. She must have overheard their alibis.

Evelyn hung her head and looked away from the distressed girl. "No, I didn't. I couldn't have. There's no way I could have..."

"He died in my arms," Leslie said suddenly and tears brimmed her doe eyes. "He was in my bed! He was in my arms and I ... and I had no idea. I didn't know until I woke up that he was dead. That just can't be real. No one could have killed so silently...not like _that_ ."

Alfred frowned and pulled himself slightly in front of Evelyn in case Leslie launched herself again. "Like...that?"

Leslie shook her head and looked at him with large horrified eyes before spinning back into her room.

"I saw what happened," came Kristina's timid voice from behind her door.

"You saw him get killed?"

"NO no no," her voice was rapid and shaky through the door and Evelyn knew it wouldn't open anytime soon. "I heard Leslie scream this morning so I ran in to see if she was okay. I saw him...or at least what was left of him." Evelyn saw Alfred roll his eyes at the use of such a dramatic sentence and knew he was thinking the same thing as her. Kristina had to be lying and was playing up the drama to try and psyche them out. "I don't know how she couldn't have woken up. He barely looked human anymore. There were cuts all over him and there was blood everywhere. It was all over the bed, all over the floor. His hands...they were severed. They were lying on the floor...just lying there..."

"You're a rotten person," Alfred spat out before she could say anymore. "It must be hard enough for everyone with a death in the room how dare you go and make it worse with your lies and slander. You should be ashamed of yourself."

He didn't wait for a response before he pulled Evelyn into her room. "Do you need anything from here?"

"What?" Evelyn tilted her head in curiosity as she looked up at her brother.

"I'm not letting you stay here. I'll pay for a hotel for the next while and I'll call mom and that cop and let them know where we are. So pack up anything you need." His tone was assertive and left no room for argument even though Evelyn doubted she would have quarrelled with the idea.

She didn't need much as she ran around the room. Her wallet, her keys, some clothes, her textbooks, her diary and her toiletries. Luckily it still wasn't very much and it all fit into one suitcase which Alfred carried for her. She slid a note underneath Briellen's door to let her know where they were going so that they could keep in contact and so that Brie had a place to escape to if she needed it. They called for a taxi and they quietly made their way to the closest hotel. Evelyn needed to hold back her laughter at the looks the front desk clerk gave the two of them. As she sat solemnly on one of the beds in the small but comfy hotel she frowned at herself.

"Hey Aflie," she began before looking up towards her brother.

He stopped packing things into the dresser to turn and look at her. "Yeah Eve, what is it?"

"Am I a bad person?" She had to wonder. Someone she had known had just died and affected the lives of people she knew and yet only moments ago she had allowed herself laugh. Surely there was something bad about someone who could do that.

Alfred nearly dropped the shirt he was folding as he faced her. "What? Lyn why would you even ask me that?"

"Someone just died and I know I didn't like him, hell I barely even knew him, but shouldn't I at least be a little bit sad? It would only be human of me to have at least cried a little bit."

He put the shirt on the floor and knelt down in front of her to take her face gently between his hands. "Evelyn, you're wrong. Not being sad about the death of a terrible human being doesn't make you a bad person. Not at all." Evelyn nodded her head at his words though she wasn't quite sure she believed him. He ruffled her hair gently before placing a delicate kiss on her forehead. "It's been rough for you this last while. But I'm here now so you can start to relax a little bit. Why don't you get some sleep and clear your mind."

"But I've only been awake for a few hours," Evelyn pouted childishly.

Alfred laughed at her before easing her back against the bed and tucking the large comforter snugly around her. "Evelyn, I'm your big brother and that means I'm right." He offered her a large smile to let her know he was joking. "I know you've only been awake for a little while but these past events are a lot to take in. I think a nice nap is just what you need right now. It's the perfect thing to ease your mind. Trust me?"

She sighed and snuggled herself into the pillow as she closed her eyes. "Always Alfie."

He smiled and placed another small kiss on her forehead before leaving her to sleep. It didn't take long before the dream world claimed her tired and stressed mind.

She'd never seen such a place in her dreams before. When Evelyn opened her eyes inside her mind her face twisted in confusion. She was standing in the bowels of what appeared to be a boiler room only bigger like a factory. She spun around and found staircases and walkways spiralling around her in a metallic maze. The air around her felt thick with heat and a foul smell spun throughout the air. She turned around once more and gasped as she nearly fell to her knees in horror.

On the floor in front of her was Damian's mangled body exactly as Kristina had described it. Blood poured from still pulsing cuts across his body and the severed hands twitched slightly as if trying to come towards her.

She covered her mouth as if that would hold in her dismay and began to back away from the terrible scene. It only took a couple of steps before her back pressed against another solid body. She didn't know who she had been expecting but the person she found staring down at her when she turned around was nowhere close to anyone she would have guessed.

He stood there in a red and green striped sweater that seemed tattered with years of wear and stained with what Evelyn feared was blood. It trailed down to brown pants that hung loosely from his legs as if even they were trying to escape him. Dirt coated them in various spots and was smeared carelessly on a pair of work boots that looked overused. Evelyn's gaze trailed back up his form and held for a moment on the glove that encased his right hand. The fingers crept forward with razor sharp blades that threatened her with promises she hoped they wouldn't keep. These razors and various metal plates appeared to be crudely attached to a faded leather work glove. The fingers clinked together as his hand twitched and her gaze shot up to his face.

"Oh no," she uttered helplessly as her hand crept to her lips again in a futile attempt to keep her words at bay.

A tired brown fedora rested upon a head that was maimed with burns. What was left of the skin and muscle wove its way around the skull in the failed patterns of a thousand different webs. The skin twisted into gnarled curls that mocked dimples and eyebrows. Her stare fell on the eyes that burst towards her from within the knotted sockets. The pure perfection of them held her despite her minds protest. Regardless of whatever horrors had befallen the rest of this man his eyes remained untouched. They weren't even bloodshot and the pale green color that filled them seemed to smile at her. His mouth followed suite revealing brown and yellow crooked teeth.

"Well hello Evelyn," he cooed in a thick grating voice. "You're looking well. So tell me, what do you think?"

His clawed hand encased her shoulder and he turned her to face the corpse of Damian in the same manner that one might spin a dance partner. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from the sight.

"Now now Evelyn that's not nice," he pouted. "You wouldn't ignore a painter's artwork if he wanted to show it to you would you?"

She held her eyes firmly shut and felt his sigh against the back of her neck as he moved closer to whisper in her ear.

"You're going to hurt my feelings," he told her in a sickly sweet tone. Suddenly his fingers dug painfully into her shoulder and the sweetness was gone and replaced with a hiss. "Open your eyes or I promise you I'll remove those pretty little eyelids of yours and make you look."

Her eyes flew open in terror and she couldn't help but look up at him with a face that mocked disbelief. He let out a laugh that sounded much like a cackle as he patted her shoulder.

"See? That wasn't so hard was it? You'll learn that cooperation makes life a very easy thing to continue to live. Now, what do you think of my handy work?"

"You did this?," Evelyn choked out. "You murdered him?"

"Of course I did," he continued as he let go of her to walk around to the pulsing body. "I did it for you Evelyn. It's my gift to you. Now there's only one part left." He knelt down and violently grabbed Damian's hair with his left hand and pulled his head off the floor eliciting a scream from the boy's bleeding mouth. "Now Damian, don't you want to tell Evelyn that you're sorry?"

Evelyn fell to her knees and silently screamed. He was alive! Amidst all that blood the poor bastard was still breathing. She wanted to say something but Damian's voice cut her off.

"I'm sorry," Damian cried while he pathetically shook his head trying to free it from this man's grasp. The hands twitched even more rapidly though they moved nowhere.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry I hurt you Evelyn!" Tears streamed from closed and bleeding eyes to burn the cuts along his round cheeks.

"And what else Maggot?" He viciously shook Damian's head pulling another scream from his lungs.

"I'm sorry that I'm such an asshole! That I was even alive! I'm sorry I existed! I didn't deserve to waste space!"

"I suppose that'll do." With one quick swipe of his other hand the head was severed and the body fell to the ground where it finally laid still.

Damian's face looked at her in shock as the man dangled it playfully for a moment before he tossed the head carelessly off to the side and cleaned his blades off on his pant leg. "I would've preferred something a little better but he was never a very bright boy so I think that was the best apology I think you could get. I was thinking of removing his brain since he never seemed to use it but I settled for removing his hands; it seemed fitting after he beat you with them. I would have removed his feet too for kicking you but that just seemed tacky."

She couldn't believe that this guy was talking so casually about such a terrible murder! What in the hell had her mind created? What was wrong with her? She found that she couldn't bring herself to understand this product her imagination no matter how much she spun the thoughts through her head. She had to convince herself that this was only a dream, that there was no harm in her actions here, so that she could find the courage make conversation. It seemed like the only way she would ever get answers from the depths of her mind; if she played its game. There was no way that this nightmare had actually killed Damian but for some reason he was here in her dreams claiming to have done so. Maybe if she asked the right questions and gave the right answers she'd find out why. So she managed to make herself to stand with weak and shaking legs so she could at least pretend to be tall and strong when she spoke to him.

This isn't real, she recited over and over in her mind before she gathered the courage to speak. "And the cuts," she asked quietly.

This man froze and a malicious smile cracked his face as his head tilted towards her. Evelyn flinched away from his gaze; she felt like she had just willing stepped into a trap and his eyes now made her think of a devious chess player who has glanced at the game board and recognised that no matter what move his opponent he will never win.

"Why those," he began as he stood and faced her head on. "Those are my signature."

"I don't get it," Evelyn forced herself to prod. "What you're doing here...why you're saying you killed him. I don't get any of it. Just who are you exactly?"

His grin broadened. Checkmate. He stretched his arms to the side as he mocked a bow his eyes never once leaving hers. "Why, I'm Freddy of course."

* * *

Kelly slammed the diary shut as fast as she could and clenched her eyes in hopes that would pull the words from her memory.

"None of this makes any sense," she sobbed.

Freddy was supposed to be her father not some freak from her mother's dream! And dreams couldn't kill people! What was going through her mother's mind that she would even have such a sick nightmare? So many questions swam through her head and yet she couldn't bring herself to continue reading so that she could answer them. Instead she used her sleeve to wipe the tears from her cheeks before she picked up her cell phone.

Her search for a Briellen Parker had proved fruitless but after reading this she knew that at least one person should know something.

"_Hello?"_

"Hello Uncle Alfred."

"_Kelly! Oh I'm so glad to hear from you! How have been?"_

"I've been doing fine Alfred, but I have a few questions for you."

He went silent for a moment and when he spoke again his tone had fallen considerably. _"Is it about your mother's dream diary?"_

"Yes."

"_And there's nothing I can do to change your mind and convince you to stop reading it?"_

"Nothing."

"_You know, you won't like what you find Kelly. I can tell you that right now. This story...it doesn't have a happy ending."_

"I guessed that Alfred, but I won't stop. I have to keep reading."

He sighed. _"Alright then. What do you want to know?"_

"You met this Briellen Parker right? When you flew down to see Mom?"

"_Yes I did."_ His voice was very regal now as if this were nothing more than business.

"Was she at Mom's funeral?"

"_Yes, of course she was. I only spoke to her briefly there though."_

"Then someone must have invited her to the funeral and I know it wasn't Grandmother or Grandfather."

"_I told her about it."_

"So you've kept in contact then," Kelly said unable to hide the keenness in her voice. "I need to speak with her. Can you tell me how to get a hold of her?"

"_I never called her,"_ he explained_. "We only mailed each other."_

"Well, can you give me her mailing address? I'll send her a letter then. I have some questions I need to ask her."

Alfred sighed but recited the address for her anyway.

"Thank you Alfred this means a lot to me."

"_Of course. I just need to ask something of you Kelly." _He didn't wait for her to reply before he continued. _"You must not let whatever you learn through this change you. I know will not be satisfied if I simply tell you some story_. _And I want you to call me more often. I worry about you. Especially now."_

"You're treating this like some huge family secret Alfred! What the hell happened that you're being so anal about this whole thing?"

She could almost feel his rage through the phone. _"Evelyn was the most precious thing in the world to me more precious than my own life," _he yelled at her. Alfred almost never raised his voice_. "The things that she wrote in there tore her apart inside! They killed my sister; you can't possibly understand what it's like having the very thing that destroyed her brought back from the past where it should have stayed dead because of some sick curiosity."_

The phone line went dead after that and Kelly face fell. She hadn't meant to anger her Uncle so much. She looked at the address she had written on the back of her homework and wondered if Briellen felt the same way. If she would only be hurting people by dragging the past up.

She instantly shook the doubts from her head as she stared at the diary. This was important to her too; she needed to know what had happened so many years ago.

She worried for a moment that if she wrote to Briellen she wouldn't reply but that was a problem easily solved. She wouldn't mail a letter. She would go for a drive. You can't ignore what shows up on your front step and thanks to Alfred she now knew exactly which step she needed to be standing on this weekend.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to Fyrefly for the wonderful review! And thank you to my newest reviewer Memmi! I appreciate it all so much you guys!

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: Fanfiction is screwing over my account! Basically my profile and story traffic counters are no longer working and if it weren't for the reviews and favs I wouldn't have any idea that people were still reading. So as long as I get a couple things I'll know this is being read. ALSO there was a couple of issues with the last chapter becoming published. The most common problem I found was that the summary showed that there was a new chapter but when the story was clicked on it never appeared. I guess if you're reading this that hasn't happened but for future notice if you happen to encounter this problem or if you did before please Private Message me and let me know! **

**ALSO the document manager hasn't been letting me put in my usual time dividers so until that is fixed I'm sure you guys can figure out when the hortizontal line is just a stretch of time or a Kelly/Evelyn switch.**

**Sorry about that but it's not my fault I'm doing the best I can to get these chapters up for you regardless.**

* * *

Chapter 6

"You can't be serious," Kelly spat out in disbelief as her hand attempted to strangle her cell phone. "No, you know what? Fine. If that's what you need to do then fine."

She slammed the phone shut and slumped down onto her bed with a frown curling her features. It was Friday and she had just called Derek to see if he would drive her to Flint over the weekend to find Briellen only to be met with the last thing she had expected to hear. Derek had 'found someone else'. She glared at the pillow as angrily as she could hoping that it might burst into feathers or flames and ease her fury. Of all the times he could choose to leave her he chose right when she needed him the most.

It was sad that she couldn't see past her simple and selfish need for him at this moment. The fact that he had told her he wanted to break up in order to pursue someone else barely seemed to phase her. What bothered her now was her lack of access to Flint and too Briellen. She wasn't even living her own life anymore; she was consumed with living her mother's.

Growling in frustration she rolled onto her back and turned her aggravated gaze to the ceiling. Now she'd have to find a bus that would take her all the way to Flint.

"Well no time like the present," she mumbled to herself as she forced herself off the bed and packed a couple of necessities into a small handbag.

"I've leaving," she called to her roommates as she locked her room door behind her. None of them called back to her so she assumed that no one was home as she slipped out the front door.

Her heavy footfalls echoed throughout the hall even on the dull and faded carpet. Kelly stared at the floor as she walked at a slow and steady pace and took in the patterns that wove themselves beneath her feet. They were ugly. Unbelievably ugly. They danced along the floor in pale oranges, browns, yellows and green. It looked like the fall trees had gotten brutally sick all over the floor. They glared back at her with the eyes of creatures shadowed behind the spiralled patterns where they were trapped. They would most likely be stuck behind those vomit colored bars for the rest of their existence. She attempted to stomp the creatures out beneath her feet as she chased them down the hall with a vengeance that didn't concern the poor beings. She went never noticing that someone else was blocking the path. Kelly slammed into Luke's body so forcefully she nearly toppled herself.

"Kelly are you okay?" His voice was panicked and a light pink blush coated his cheeks as he reached out as if to catch her.

"Yeah, yeah," Kelly mumbled as she finally seemed to pull herself back to reality. "Just a little dazed but that must be because I'm thinking too much."

"Oh? What're you thinking about?"

She hesitated as her words caught in her throat and she fumbled for an excuse. "Oh...just...it's nothing."

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

Kelly gave him a curious look before she sighed. It wouldn't hurt to tell him a little bit of the truth. "I just lost my ride to Flint so I'm a little bummed out. It was a pretty important visit for me."

She tried to make her way past him again when Luke stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. "I'll take you," he offered quickly.

"What?" Her face crunched in disbelief as she stared at him.

His earnest featured face stared back at her and he cracked an awkward and shy smile. "Consider it payment for helping me out before."

Normally she would have declined the offer; getting into a car with a stranger was not something Alfred or her mother would have condoned. But now she was desperate. Things were different than they were at the beginning of the year and she wouldn't lose this chance to reach deeper into her mother's life.

"If you really didn't mind I would really appreciate that Luke thanks." She seemed to fall back into her usual demeanour as an elegant smile spread across her face.

* * *

His truck wasn't the greatest. Possibly a vehicle from the early nineties. The bright white paint was starting to peel away from the sides and rust crept along just above the tires. The inside reeked of dust and Kelly curled her nose at the bumpy ride.

"So what do you want to go to Flint for anyway," Luke asked as he politely tried to start conversation. It wasn't a terribly long drive. Simply long enough that it would be too awkward to spend in silence.

"Um...to see an old friend," she lied softly. Well...it wasn't entirely a lie; it was just her mother's old friend, not hers.

He made a few more attempts at small talk but when Kelly never proceeded to do anymore than answer his questions in a short and stern manner he finally turned all his attention to the drive ahead.

"I think I'm going to read a little if you don't mind," she told him formally as she reached into her bag for her mother's diary.

Her curiosity had been digging at her mind all day begging to be acknowledged. Luke just smiled and nodded at her though she barely noticed as her mind delved once more into the pages.

* * *

"You," Evelyn started before her tongue began to clumsily stumble over her words. "You're...the Freddy...the one those girls...and Nancy's house..."

"Ah yes, Nancy." He folded his arms and tapped his claws thoughtfully on his chin. "She was such a spirited little thing."

"Was?" Evelyn hadn't missed that. The use of past tense didn't slip away from her and the idea worried her. She wasn't a whole lot older than Nancy and last she had known the girl was still fine.

He flicked his hand away from them as to dismiss the thought into the darkness of the building. "It's not important."

"What happened to her," Evelyn pressed as she leaned towards him unable to hide her interest from this man. Even if she wanted to deny it she was caught. She had nothing, no ideas and no answers, and Freddy was the only person capable of remedying that.

He casually shrugged. "She seems to have lost most of her spirit. Apparently that happens when you're called crazy and put in a psychiatric ward. But you're much smarter than that, aren't you Evelyn."

"What are you talking about Freddy?"

She gasped as he simply vanished from her sight; gone the moment she blinked as if he had never been there at all. Evelyn looked around and listened intently for any sounds of him. Nothing reached her and she began to back away from Damian's mangled body in hopes she could find her own way out of this dream without having to play Freddy's game. The thought was simply too good to be true as she felt his claws pressed threateningly against her back. She knit her lips together and closed her eyes as she felt small bubbles of blood begin to trickle down her spine.

"I like it when you say my name," he growled angrily despite the words that should have had a seductive tone to them. "It seems slightly less tainted when you say it." He pulled his fingers from her back with a swipe slicing the back of her sweatshirt open but she dared not turn to face him.

"You...you said I'm smarter than her," she started as she stammered for words in order to change the topic. She dared not use his name again. "What do you mean by that exactly?"

She could almost imagine the smirk that traced its way across what was left of his lips. "You're making quite a lot of conversation Evelyn. I don't usually talk to the people I kill this much."

She spun to face him with horror painted across her features only to find that he was no longer there. She rapidly twisted every which way hoping to catch him before he appeared behind her again.

"Stop screwing with me like this," she begged loudly as she continued to look around. Of course he planned on killing her and she hated herself for the fact that she would have thought otherwise for a moment. That's when it hit her again; this was only a dream. It didn't matter if he killed her because none of this was real. It was these mind games that were freaking her out. But maybe if he killed her here she would finally wake up...

"If you're going to kill me then do it!" Her panicked cry echoed through empty building and bounced back at her from the stairs and beams.

When nothing called back to her she swore quietly and looked around for a new plan. Her eyes caught on all the levels to the building. There had to be a door somewhere up there or some other way to escape. If she escaped the building perhaps that would count as escaping the dream.

She quickly pulled her sweatshirt over her head as she continued to twist and turn every which way not bothering to correct the pale yellow tank top that now lay askew across her abdomen. She knew she would climb faster without it as it would make her arms slippery against the metal. She didn't see any stairs to the next level but she did see a low lying walkway just a little to the right. Perhaps if she took a running leap at it she'd be able to make the jump. She threw her sweatshirt to the ground and bolted forward.

He was in her face before she could even think of flinching and she ran full force into him as he drove his razor tipped fingers straight through her stomach. The pain she felt was beyond anything she could have ever imagined and she fell against him as her legs became too weak to hold her. She choked out at the look of pure evil that covered his face as he twisted his fingers inside her pulled out a scream that erupted from her lungs. Her hands held tight to his shoulders as she collapsed against him and gasped for her breath. Blood fell carelessly down her stomach and warmed her. Evelyn tilted her head up to look at his impossibly close face while her eyes flamed with the question 'why'. His sneer burned back at her as he ripped the blades from her abdomen and his other hand shot up to catch her around the neck. He held her away from him and kept for from falling over as his soulless green eyes bore into her very depths.

"This is _MY_ nightmare Evelyn," he hissed at her. "You die when _I _want you to and not a moment sooner. You don't make the demands here." He threw her to the floor and gestured roughly with a nod of his head to her stomach. "If I wanted to I could kill you a thousand times over and you'd feel it every time. Remember that next time you think you'd demand death from me."

Her chest heaved in fear and her fingers lightly touched where he had pierced her. Surprise caught in her throat and halted her breath as her eyes shot down to her stomach where blood soaked her clothes. There wasn't even so much as a scar remaining; it looked as if nothing had ever occurred. However, the pain still burned through her as a reminder that it had happened.

Her mind fumbled for words as she finally looked up at him and met those fierce eyes that filled her with a never ending sense of dread.

"I thought you were smarter than her," he began more to himself that to her. "She was foolish enough to start trying to make her dreams a reality. But that's my job. You wouldn't be foolish enough to try and do my job now would you Evelyn?"

She shook her head and her brown locks spun around her face. "No...No Freddy. I wouldn't."

Her voice was weak and she cowered like a beaten dog away from him. Away from its master. That's what that word tasted like to her. His name felt more like a title on her tongue than a real name.

"Good. Then maybe I wasn't wrong after all." He began to circle her; stalking and analysing his prey carefully. She dared not move but she let her eyes follow his tantalizingly slow circle.

"Please Freddy," she began as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She bowed her head in a shameful attempt to head them as she grovelled from her knees. She was indeed his slave. Whether this was just a nightmare or something more it was very real at the moment. And that moment was all that mattered. "...why me...I don't understand this dream..."

His laugh rudely mocked her as it echoed around them. "You still think you're dreaming?"

* * *

"Evelyn wake up!"

Evelyn's eyes flew open to find Alfred hovering over top of her with distressed features. He finally ceased shaking her shoulders as he attempted to calm his own breathing while he rested his forehead against her shoulder.

"Oh thank god you're finally awake! I was so worried!"

"Alfred?" Evelyn found herself disoriented for a moment as she looked around the room in order to catch her bearings again. She was back in the hotel room she was sharing with her brother with sweat matting her hair to the back of her neck.

"Yeah yeah it's me," he breathed out before pulling her tightly into a hug. "Man you had me so scared Evelyn. You were screaming in your sleep and then when I tried to wake you you started crying. What in the hell were you dreaming about?"

"Damian," she murmured quietly. "I saw what was left of him...and I saw who killed him..." She refused to bring Freddy's name to her lips here where he shouldn't exist.

"Evelyn don't talk like that," Alfred scolded. "It was just a nightmare it wasn't real just relax."

"I...I think I need to go to the bathroom," she mumbled as Alfred slowly helped her sit up.

She held a hand to her forehead and sighed. It had been just a dream; if it was anything else she wouldn't be here right now. Her body felt far too heavy for her legs as they quivered in their effort to hold her up. She fumbled her way towards the bathroom where she intended to splash her face with water and refresh her dulled senses.

"Oh my god Evelyn," Alfred choked out. "What happened to you?"

Evelyn froze at his words and turned to him with a face paled by fear before stepping to the mirror that hung loosely on the wall to look at herself.

"No...please no..."

Her hand brushed across the holes in her shirt that were stained with blood. There were no wounds beneath the shirt but the message left was clear. Freddy was no simple nightmare.

* * *

"What are you reading?"

Luke's voice snapped Kelly out of the trance she constantly found herself falling into whenever she read her mother's diary. She sighed and slammed the small book shut. "It's nothing really," she told him unable to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Oh really?" Luke's own tone had changed considerably as if he now knew that he were being used selfishly by this girl. "If it's nothing then why are you bawling your eyes out?"

Kelly's fingers shot to her cheeks where she felt the dampness that he spoke of and glared at her knees in fury that she would betray her emotions like that. "You wouldn't understand," she hissed at him. "You'd probably even call me crazy."

"Why don't you try me?" He looked as if he might slam on the brakes for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road. "You can't possibly be the only crazy person out there so what makes you think that no one would ever be able to believe you? Even if I think you're crazy I'm not just going to leave you on the side of the road."

She looked at him apprehensively for a moment before allowing her features to soften a bit. "I'm sorry...the reason I'm using you is because of this diary. I can't help it. I'll do anything to figure it out."

"Who's was it?"

"My mother's. She passed away recently."

"Well then I can't really blame you for using me, I mean, this was your mother."

Kelly smiled softly as she looked out the window. "She was the greatest woman I'd ever known and I loved her so much. But after she died I started reading her diary...to learn more about her I guess. Then...I started to read things. Things that should only be written in a horror novel. Things that someone shouldn't be putting in a diary and now I don't know what to think about her." Luke sat quietly and listened while Kelly continued on. "That's why I have to go to Flint and see Briellen Parker. She was there with my mother. She lived with her. If anyone knows what really happened she would."

Luke reached over and took her hand in his taking her by such surprise that she nearly recoiled from the touch. "Then I'll help you out. It sounds pretty serious and you shouldn't have to go through this by yourself. You just have to promise me that you'll tell me the whole story. There's enough drive left I think for something like that."

And so she told him everything. Of her mother's death and Alfred's reactions. Of the roommates and of the death of Damian. And of how her alleged father was written as a figment of Evelyn's nightmares.

And just like that the troubles seemed a little lighter to bear.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone! Sorry it took so long to update and with such a short chapter. I hope you all enjoy it none the less though! Once again thank you to all my reviewers, despite the fact that I someone has hurt my feelings by UNfaving this story you guys made my happy to continue writing!

Fanfiction seems to stop have stopped fighting with me a little bit. Though they are not needed in this chapter the new time dividers are a row of bold x's. Anyway please enjoy and review!

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Chapter 7

"Kelly, Kelly wake up."

Kelly groaned and twisted awake as her eyes slowly attempted to blink open only to be eagerly deterred by the sun. She yawned and stretched her body out as far as she could in the small passenger seat.

"Luke?" She didn't even remember falling asleep and her mind still felt groggy in the thickly heated vehicle.

He whistled a bird call in order to pull her fading attentions to his face. "Come on Kelly, it's the middle of the day. You can't be that tired." His bright smile greeted her half lidded eyes.

"I haven't slept very well lately," she complained. "I'm allowed to sleep if I want."

"Sure," he agreed. "But we're here in Flint now. And I don't know where you need to go."

She finally snapped to attention and her hand flew into her pocket without wasting a moment. "Um...it's in here somewhere..." She struggled for the small slip of paper before yanking it from her pants. "Ah here we go."

She announced the street he'd have to find first as she stared down the small and crumpled piece of paper. She was so close to at least a few answers that her heart fluttered with anticipation. She watched as pale and unimportant buildings passed by along with street signs that held irrelevant words as they wove throughout the streets. They turned this way and that and Kelly assumed that they had made a few wrong turns along the way but she could hardly tell as all the buildings blurred into one large insignificant blob. He finally appeared to discover the right street when he never turned again; it had never occurred to Kelly that he didn't know the streets of Flint or had never been there before. When the area finally turned to residential Luke politely asked for the house number so that they could look out of both sides at the same time.

His speed slowed considerably as they took in every last detail. Kelly's eagerness could hardly be contained as she pressed her face to the window and hungrily searched for the house she hoped would hold all her answers.

"I see it! I see it!" she cried happily.

She didn't even wait for him to stop the truck as she yanked up the lock and flung open the door. Her feet slammed against the pavement and she flew towards the immaculate appearing house. Its pale yellow paint brightened its surroundings and was guarded by a freshly shingled roof. The lawn was cleanly shaven and held only a single apple tree that had disrespectfully dropped many of its fruit on the ground. She pounded up the cobbled pathway to a quaint little porch where a large white door awaited her impatient hand.

She rapped on the door and waited with twitching limbs for it to swing open. When it never did she tilted to the side in hopes of peering through one of the windows before knocking rapidly once more.

"I don't think she's here right now," Luke heaved as he ran up the pathway carrying all of Kelly's things. "There's nothing in the driveway. Maybe she stepped out."

"But she has to be here!" Kelly protested desperately. She spun away from him and knocked even more furiously against the door.

Luke placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure she'll come back. Why don't we wait for awhile?" He nodded towards a small black bench at the end of the porch. "Come on, you can sit down over there."

"I... guess you're right," she reluctantly agreed as she allowed him to lead her over to the bench.

"We'll wait here as long as it takes," he assured her.

She simply nodded and held out her hand for the diary without even taking the time to offer him a reply. She might as well do something productive with her time. Luke hesitated for a moment, seeming disappointed with her choice, before handing her the small book from her things and moving the bag over to be beside her feet. He stretched back and stared out at the scenery as Kelly flipped open to her marked page.

_It's strange being back in these rooms again knowing what's happened here. What could happen again at any moment. My hand is healing well I think. I don't feel it at all anymore even though it's only been a few of weeks since the cast was put on. I stayed with Alfred for only a couple of nights before I had decided to come back here. I guess I felt that if I didn't come back I'd never be able to move forward with my life. Alfred had flown back home shortly after I got settled. I'm sure that mother has given him quite the earful about being spontaneous. I told him that I had dreamt of Nancy and her house; I was worried that if I told him much else he'd be too afraid to leave me. He said he'd look into whatever happened to her for me but I haven't heard anything back from him yet though. I'm starting worry. It's given me too much time to think. I feel strange..._

**

* * *

**

Evelyn stared down at her soup as she calmly continued to stir it despite the lack of need. Her wounded hand hung uselessly by her side while she leaned up against the stove in an attempt to hold herself upright. She felt as though her head weren't quite screwed on right since that dream. It had been quite a few weeks. No one had spoken to her since her return except for Briellen. But Brie had kept contact to a minimum saying that something was off in the house and she was afraid to be the one to shatter the glass. They communicated mostly by sliding notes under each other's doors in hopes that no one would overhear them; they both knew that Kristina was waiting like a snake for something to strike with.

Speak of the devil herself. Evelyn glanced up from her small pot to find Kristina slinked towards her once again wearing something terribly unflattering. She smirked to herself; she'd always the thought that the devil would be a bit more tempting than that.

"Hey." Kristina's voice quivered as she spoke like she were speaking to a large heavily toothed creature that she wasn't sure was friendly or hostile yet.

Eve's eyes shot to the blonde with a look that should have sliced her in half. Most definitely hostile. "I'm allowed to leave my room you know," she hissed.

She had no idea what game this pathetic thing was playing at now but she refused to be a part of it. She refused to allow this thing to pretend to be friendly anymore even if that meant taking out all her pent up rage and confusion on her. She wasn't usually an aggressive person but Evelyn had discovered something about herself recently. That even the best of dogs, when beaten into a corner, while bite back.

"Of course you are," Kris began trying instantly to take Evelyn's side and put her at ease. She took a few testing steps toward Evelyn who made no obvious moves in return though she never lowered her defenses. "I just haven't seen you for quite awhile. I was worried about how all of this might have affected you. I mean, you are still the prime suspect in all of this..."

Evelyn ceased stirring and wondering if the tomato mixture continued to bubble simply because of the look she was giving it. "Then are you sure you should be talking to me Kristina? They haven't proven it's not me yet. For all you know..." She left her sentence hanging in an attempt to scare the blonde senseless. It worked.

Without a second thought Kristina hurled herself back into her room and slammed the door. Evelyn heard it lock with a satisfying click and returned to stirring her soup.

She had changed. She could see this as plainly as anyone. She knew that before she had never been able to speak anything on her mind no matter what that meant for her. She had been so timid. But now Evelyn felt different; she wouldn't say that she was braver just simply more brazen towards such insignificant people. She now realised that whatever they could do to her for speaking her mind was nothing compared to what _he _could do just because he felt like it.

She wasn't sure what she thought of this Freddy character but something in her gut told her that he wasn't someone to be trifled with. She still hadn't quite figured out the connection between her dreams and the reality. There was no proof that Freddy was what killed Damian, but he had managed to wound her well enough to cause worry.

She hummed and hawed over her thoughts as she poured a bowl of soup for herself and did the dishes quickly so that she didn't have to leave them out in the kitchen.

This whole situation didn't seem to bother her much anymore. The police had nothing other than a motive on her and she had an airtight alibi. Evelyn also had to admit that despite how it came about she enjoyed not having to worry about Damian showing up and forcing her to take shelter in her room.

She relished the warm feeling that the soup filled her with while she sipped it quietly in her room. It added to her calm. She looked at her old phone in anticipation of its ringing with news from Alfred but it never happened.

What was happening to her? She stared at her soup as if it would provide her with at least a few answers; it failed to impress her.

She sighed after finishing her soup and placing the bowl on her desk. She'd clean it later. Rolling herself onto her back she stared at the ceiling and attempted to straighten her bright pink plaid shirt before straightening her long black shorts. If she had nothing better to do than nap she might as well be comfortable while she did.

She did her best to clear her mind as her eyes closed and fluttered lightly.

"So what do you think?"

The gravelly voice snapped her eyes open and she found herself face to face with Freddy as hung eerily close to her face. She nearly screamed but instantly her hand shot to her mouth to stifle it.

"What are you doing in my room?" she hissed as she lowered her hand and stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm visiting you of course," he replied. He straightened up and contemplated his claws as he brandished them in front of her. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

She sat herself up and a frown twitched her features at the testing tone he offered her. She didn't know what the right answer would be or what he would do if he answered wrong. She had a feeling that if she offered him a lie he'd be able to sense it right away so she swallowed heavily and did the best she could.

"I guess that depends on why you're visiting me," Evelyn replied as boldly as she could.

His burnt face cracked a vicious smile as he looked down at her. "That's my girl," he growled at her causing the hairs on the back of her neck to raise defensively. "You've gotten better since the last time we met. So you haven't answered me yet Evelyn, what do you think?"

"About what," she told him bluntly causing a snarl to form on his face.

"It's not that hard of a question," he snapped back angrily as he advanced on her causing her to scramble back against the wall.

"I-I'm sorry! I just don't know what you're referring to! There's so much to think about lately I just..." Her voice trailed off hoping it was enough to convince him that she needed her head to continue staying attached to her shoulders.

He snarled furiously and pressed the clawed fingers to her neck releasing small bubbles of blood. "Since you seem to be having trouble with the most simple of tasks I'll rephrase the question for you. I won't repeat myself again darlin' so you'd better listen up." His face twisted into a smile of forced kindness though it still looked as though it could curl with fury at any moment. "What do you think of life with that fat bastard gone? How does it feel?"

Evelyn's face fell blank as she stared at his face no longer as bothered by its closeness to hers despite the foul breath that spun around her senses. Her lips parted slightly with an answer that she couldn't quite form as her thoughts swarmed through her.

"I..." Her words caught as those green eyes bore into her own and despite whatever words she had thought she might offer him her soul spewed a few of its own. "It feels wonderful," she admitted with slight surprise. "I mean...I know that a human being is dead, but I've haven't felt this relaxed in years."

Freddy's grin became more genuine as he slid his claws away from her neck. "That's the answer I was hoping for." He leaned back and looked as though he might walk away from her before turning back to her with a large smile. "In that case I want to make a deal with you."

She was unable to help herself from frowning at him or hide the quivering in her voice. "A deal..."

"Yes." The word hissed through his teeth. "I'll kill for you."

The offer terrified her and Evelyn suddenly lost all color as it finally seemed to dawn on her who it was she was so casually talking to. This man wasn't normal and he certainly wasn't sane.

"I-I don't want you to kill anyone! People shouldn't die just I want them too!" She started to panic. She shouldn't have been so calm before. She shouldn't have even answered him. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Evelyn screamed as she lunged for the door and desperately tried to open it. Somewhere in the back of her mind a small voice told her that no matter what she had done before there was nothing she could have done to stop this. She was merely his pawn now and it was her fear that made her his.

Everything happened so fast Evelyn barely had time to think about uttering out another scream before she was ripped away from the door. She was thrown the floor and her eyes widened with tears when she found Freddy on top of her with his claws planted dangerously in her mouth.

"No one can hear you scream in here Evelyn," he warned. "But all the same I'm not sure I can forgive that..."

"Please..." she choked out as best she could around his claws. She could even taste the stale blood that stained them.

"You should be grateful you little bitch," he told her as he lower his claws deeper ever so slightly. "I'm offering to make your life better. All you have to do is sing for me whenever you need me to swoop in and cut someone out of the picture."

"I don't want to," she sobbed.

"Liar," he hissed and his claws pressed against her tongue creating deep cuts in the soft pink muscle. "You said yourself that your life was better now. YOU decided that. YOU asked ME to take your problems away. But I'm not doing it for free anymore Evelyn, now I want something in return..."

"What do you want from me," she cried against the pain in her tongue.

Another grin cracked his features. "Just a favour Evelyn. A simple little favour."

**

* * *

**

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

Kelly's head jerked up and she found herself staring at very serene looking woman. Her short strawberry blonde hair was pulled into a tightly wound ponytail revealing her pale unblemished face and calculating eyes. She was wearing a tight floral dress that fell down her short form and aged her beyond her years.

Kelly quickly glanced over to Luke to find that he had fallen asleep sometime while she was reading.

"Um yes I think," Kelly responded as she stood up and folded the book shut. "Are you Briellen Parker?"

"Yes I am. Who are you?" Briellen turned fully to Kelly almost assaulting her with the distrust in her gaze.

"I'm Kelly. Kelly Black. I'm Evelyn's daughter."

Briellen froze as she looked at her and her expression twitched before she nodded her head and went to unlock the front door. "I am sorry for your loss," she said simply. "But I don't see what I can do for you."

"I came to talk to you." Luke started to wake up at the sudden loudness of Kelly's voice. "Please it's very important to me."

"I'm very busy Kelly. I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing."

"What?" Kelly couldn't believe it; this woman was practically ignoring her. "NO! No one else was with my mother when Damian was killed! You have to know something! I need to know who Freddy is!"

Briellen fumbled and dropped her keys as she stared at the door in horror. "How...how do you know about any of that?"

Kelly showed her the diary she was holding. "My mom wrote it all down in here; her dream diary. I've been reading it since she died. I haven't gotten very far. But she did write that you were her closest friend. I was hoping that you'd be able to answer a couple of my questions."

"What do you want to know," Briellen asked quietly her eyes never once turning to the brunette.

"You went to the hospital with my mother right? There's always the chance that she could be lying in her diary. So I need to know. There's no way that she could have killed Damian right?"

Briellen was silent for a moment before she nodded her head. "I was with her the whole time, she never left my sight. She wasn't the one who killed Damian."

Kelly breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "That's so good to hear."

"Is that all you needed to know?" Briellen had picked up her keys and was more than ready to enter her house again.

"No one wants to talk to me about this," Kelly stated bluntly. "Why? Why won't anyone talk to me about Freddy?"

Briellen's knuckles went white from her grip on the doorknob before she flung the door open. "His name is Fredrick Charles Krueger and that is all you will get out of me." She finally turned to look at Kelly and the poor girl could feel the hatred swarming around her. "Your mother would be very disappointed if she were alive to see you and what you're doing right now. You're an insult to her memory."

Without waiting for a reply Briellen slammed the door shut behind her leaving Kelly and Luke standing outside with shock written across their features.

"Don't listen to her Kelly," Luke offered comfortingly as he placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the truck.

She shied away from his touch and walked towards the truck with a downcast look and distressed features. He ran back to grab her stuff from the bench before following. As they left the porch Briellen let the curtains fall shut before she fell to her knees as if all her energy were drained. Her had slid down the wall and until it balled at her side and caught of few of the tears that strayed from her cheeks.

That girl was the spitting image of her mother back when they had first met, but she was much too curious.

"Oh Evelyn I'm so sorry," Brie sobbed to herself. "It was like looked at you I had to tell her something..."

She knew that Evelyn would have wished more than anything else that her daughter never find out about her past. And yet Briellen had just given her the biggest key. She shook her head in shame and hoped that once Kelly discovered the owner of that name she'd stop reading and she'd stop digging.

"I'm so sorry," she cried once more before folding into herself and sobbing uncontrollably.


	8. Chapter 8

I am so sorry that the update took forever! Work work work...and not gonna lie my boyfriend is back from camp so I'm spending a lot of time at his place without my laptop. Please forgive me! I didn't proof read very well because I didn't want you all to wait any longer. I hope you all find it worth the wait! Enjoy! Please remember to review I love hearing your thoughts!

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**Chapter 8**

Any man who knows anything worthwhile will know the difficulties in dealing with a true wild thing. They would know that the only skill that is truly involved is Luck. Stealth, confidence, strength, charm; all these qualities are useless in the presence of a true wild thing.

This wild thing, of course, being a woman. Luke was gradually beginning to discover that he didn't even have a sliver of the much needed luck when it came to dealing with women. He had his own treasured wild thing slam doors in his face, cry into his shoulder and scream her lungs out at him all in random order in the past four hours.

This left him with nothing more productive to do than pace around his own dorm room with a furrowed brow and clenched fists. She hadn't even taken her things from him no matter how many times he offered them back to her so Kelly's bag sat off to the side of Luke's room avoiding his war path.

He just didn't understand it. No matter how many times he spun around that room he didn't seem to understand anything more. It was just a silly little diary. Even if it was her mother's diary this whole thing was ridiculous. Yes, perhaps her mother's younger years had been traumatizing but they were over and from what he had understood she had been a happy person later.

His frown increased as he stared at the diary which rested teasingly on top of Kelly's things. It was a foolish thought that crossed his mind next. This thought was; that perhaps if he were to read the diary himself he might understand a little more.

As he reached for the small worn book with great apprehension a terrible feeling shivered through him. It was the kind of feeling one usually got just before knocking on the door of the oldest and creepiest house on the block just because you were dared by your friends to speak the child eating witch inside.

When his hand gently clasped the book a small feeling of relief went through him and he released his breath as if he had been expecting a shock when he touched it. The book felt small and almost pathetic in his hands and he tilted his head while he stared at it with a morbid curiosity about his eyes.

He casually flipped through the pages and flipped back. Nothing jumped out at him; it was simply filled with a delicate handwriting and nothing more. The words curved and twisted in a simple dance across the worn and stained pages. He recognised some of the parts that Kelly had told him about as he skimmed over the words and flipped ahead to where the pages spelled out things he hadn't read yet.

He thought that perhaps it would be best to start off with something he didn't have an opinion on yet. He read slowly of the events that the Kelly had last read over. He frowned slightly at the recounting as if he couldn't quite understand that this was indeed a diary he was reading and not some fantasy novel.

_Freddy never told me what he wanted as a favor. When I woke up from the dream I started to worry; actions like his would come with a heavy price. One I'm not quite sure I will be willing to pay when the time comes. There are cuts on my tongue. I know that they came from Freddy's blades but I'm sure no one will believe me. I've decided that it'd be best if I kept my dreams to myself from now on. I can't even tell Alfred; I don't need him to think me as crazy as I feel. _

* * *

Evelyn heaved a sigh as she rested her face into her fist and tapped her pen restlessly against her cheek while her casted hand lay heavily on her diary. No one else had ever seen Freddy but her; he only appeared in her dream yet somehow the things he did there took form in her life. The only explanation was that all her experiences had made her 'batshit insane' as Briellen would say.

She stared at her wrist with a twisted brow as she turned her arm cautiously to look at it. She couldn't even remember how long she had had it on; it felt like so long ago. She never seemed to notice the days passing by unless they were marked with a Freddy encounter. Everything else seemed insignificant in comparison.

She flexed her fingers and felt nothing throughout her hand except a dull pull. As a test she tapped the back of her hand against her desk and tilted her head curiously at the feeling of numbness that filled her.

"Brie!" Evelyn called out knowing that the short was just across the hall in the small open bathroom. "When do you think I can go in and take my cast off?"

"You could have done that sometime last week," she yelled back.

No way. Evelyn's face curled in frustration and confusion. There's no way that much time had passed already. Wasn't the waiting time six weeks? Time really was insignificant to her if Freddy wasn't a part in it. Had Alfred called her back then? She couldn't seem to remember hearing back from him at all.

Her eyes blinked slowly as she turned to look at the phone and tried to pull her faded thoughts through her mind. Alfred had called. When? A week ago. It had to be. Her brow furrowed as she considered her thoughts. What had he said? It was about Freddy so she couldn't understand why she didn't remember.

Fredrick Charles Krueger.

The name struck her like a blow to the gut as everything flooded back to her.

Nancy was now in a mental hospital. Freddy had put her there. She had been dreaming of him and he had been killing off her friends in her dreams. She would find them dead the next day in the manner that she had dreamt them killed. This was the story Alfred had uncovered after sneaking into the ward under false pretences; after he had spoken to her and seen the thick white streak in her hair.

The official story that the police would tell was that she had started having hallucinations after her friend Rod Lane had killed her best friend Tina and then committed suicide. Apparently the death of her boyfriend Glen had never been proven to be related to the other deaths. She claimed that Freddy Krueger had killed them.

Fredrick Charles Krueger had died in 1968.

Apparently he had once been known as the Springwood Slasher. Evelyn had only been six at the time. She hadn't had any idea of that going on. Freddy had been burned alive by the parents of Elm Street to keep him from murdering their children. Her parents had never taken part in that ordeal; they had decided that it would sully their reputation. Evelyn had never been told of what had taken place.

What Alfred had told her next disturbed her the most. Nancy had claimed that Freddy was attempting to kill the Elm Street children that he hadn't gotten during his lifetime. That included Evelyn Black.

"How in hell did I forget that?" Evelyn demanded from herself quietly.

A concept from her Philosophy class answered her; her mind had been so scared by this information that it had repressed it. Apparently the mind liked to make decisions without her.

"She's even talking to herself now Mama I'm scared," a voice whined through her open window.

Evelyn resisted the urge to tell her piggish roommate to fuck off and mind her own business knowing that she could hear her quite well through that screen. Instead she decided to use her own tricks against her and eavesdrop a little. Of course Evelyn was smart enough to understand that she was only hearing half the conversation.

"She doesn't like me Mama, no matter how nice I am to her. I think Briellen is the same as her. I think they're planning something together Mama."

Evelyn nearly hissed with her fury. How dare that bitch drag Briellen into her psycho little world.

"I could bring her world crashing down," Freddy offered as he ran his claws almost seductively across the top of Evelyn's shoulder.

She spun around with wide eyes only to find the empty space of her staring back at her.

"Oh Mama...she's stopped talking," came Kristina's voice once more. "I think she heard me. In case I don't talk to you again I love you Mama. Tell Papa I love him too."

Evelyn's fury flared again and she did the only thing she could do; she ran. Grabbing her keys and throwing her diary into its secret place she locked her door and bolted as fast as she could into the hallway. Her feet pounded against the carpeted floor as her head flew back behind her. She needed out of that environment before she wished for something she'd regret.

"Do you think you can hide from me Evelyn?" Freddy's voice just taunted her now; she doubted that he was even speaking to her.

She never responded to the voice in her head and instead continued running as fast as her feet allowed her. That woman tortured her to the brink of psychosis. Freddy did that well enough without anyone's help. Her body seemed to know a path that she did not as it twisted through the streets.

"Where are you going Evelyn."

She continued running ignoring Freddy's whispers. It didn't take long before she found herself alone.

Evelyn found herself surrounded by houses; all of them appeared lived in but the street was empty for as far as she could see. She slowed down until she was barely walking. Her steps slowly pulled her deeper into the unfamiliar area as her eyes slid around. She was completely alone.

"You did this didn't you Freddy?" She looked around for the bladed terror as she frowned. "That's why I seemed to know where I was going without thinking about it. You led me here." She was too furious to be scared at the moment; she knew that her mocked bravery wouldn't last long once he showed himself.

"You're getting brighter and brighter each time we meet." She looked around for him but his voice echoed from every crevice and she found no shadows for him to hide in.

"Why'd you do it?"

"You aren't as enjoyable to talk to when you think someone will hear you scream," he hissed as his foul breath caressed the back of her neck.

Normally she would have started and turned to face him but she knew that the moment she did he wouldn't be there. She simply closed her eyes and cringed at the feel of him but didn't move. "And you don't think someone will hear me here? Look at all the houses."

"They shouldn't bother us." There was the hint of a smile to his words that drew shivers from her.

"What do you want from me this time Freddy? Come to claim your favour?"

"Not quite yet my dearest Evelyn," Freddy told her. "A favour isn't something to waste. Now what's with the attitude?"

His human hand reached over her shoulder and across her chest where he firmly gripped her other shoulder. Evelyn's breathing quickened as he held her to him and the feeling of him so close made her want to sob. However, the thing that scared her the most was the fact that he wasn't using his clawed hand; it was as if the knives were just for show but he didn't really need them to kill her. She opened her eyes and stared straight ahead as she took in the bravest breath she could muster in spite of her quivering lungs.

"Evelyn?"

His fingers dug threateningly into her flesh and she cringed knowing that she wouldn't get another warning.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. The little bravery and fury that had driven her only moments ago had taken only seconds to scare off. "I don't mean it."

"Sure you do."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Evelyn managed.

"She's called the cops on you, you know. Told them you were hearing voices," he slowly circled her as he loosened his grip and dragged his fingers pressingly around her shoulder blades. "Told them about your fitful sleeps and the things she's heard you saying to your brother. Told them she thinks you killed Damian. But you and I both know that I killed him."

"I don't believe you." Evelyn's words were weak as she uttered them. The lie stained her teeth and she averted her gaze from his. She knew Kristina. She knew he was right.

"The little bitch tried to call her parents up to buy your expulsion."

"What!" Evelyn's gaze went wide as she faced him full on and met those penetrating eyes.

He stopped mid step like a prowling cat that's just sensed the movement of a mouse. A grin spread across his paled burnt lips.

"You seem to think I'm only a piece of your dreams dear Evelyn. But I am something much worse. I am something that even the nightmares fear. I'm not limited. I'm always around you, watching you, waiting for you to fall asleep." He seemed to shrug. "But sometimes you're really really boring."

Evelyn nearly choked. Did he...just crack a joke? As any old friend would? It disarmed her that this psycho had even the slightest sense of humor. She then found her mind coated with a strange thought: Kristina was the psycho not Freddy.

To her Freddy was the murderer but she expected most of his disturbing actions. Everything he did felt justified because of who he was; he wasn't falling out of character with strange words, mind games or murder. He had one face and he showed it to everyone with vigor.

Kristina, however, had twelve different faces and you would be lucky to talk to two of them in a lifetime and spend the rest of it wondering what the other ten were saying when you weren't looking. To Evelyn that seemed more psychotic than someone who very blatantly displayed themselves for who they were.

The thought mildly disturbed her but at the same time it was quelling a piece of her fear of Freddy. He had quick moves and a sick mind, but Evelyn guessed that if she didn't startle so easily and had watched more horror movies as a child she might have been able to hold more ground against him.

That being said as she took another look at the creature before her she knew that there was nothing she feared more in the world.

"What are you thinking about Evelyn?" Freddy provoked. "You've been quiet for far too long."

She started a little unsure of what to say. What could she say? 'Oh you know just that I'm terrified of you but at the same time I'd rather be around you than Kristina because you're more predictable?' Yeah...like that wouldn't get her killed...

"Thinking of asking me to get rid of the problem?" he tested.

Evelyn moved to choke out a response but found her words thrown out of her as her eyes flew open and her shoulders were jerked forward. Brie's face stared at her worriedly as her hands clenched the circulation from Evelyn's shoulders.

"Oh thank god you're finally awake," Briellen breathed.

"What?"

"I ran out after you and found you like this. Judging by that red welt on your forehead I'd think you ran into one of these trees pretty hard."

Evelyn glanced around her as she shakily sat up. She was in the small park area outside of the school that many of the students studied in. She hadn't made it very far at all...

"We should go back," Briellen suggested and she helped Evelyn to her feet.

"You're kidding right?" Evelyn stared at her closest friend sceptically.

"Kristina ran out after you did," Brie explained. "So you should be just fine. We'll grab my keys and I'll take you to get your cast removed. How does that sound?"

Evelyn felt sick inside; that kind of nauseous feeling a person gets when they know something is wrong but they don't know what. It didn't help that Briellen's tone both annoyed and offended her. She was talking to her like a child. Like telling a child they'll get a lollypop if they're good for the shopping trip.

Evelyn shrugged her away. "I'll cut it off myself thanks."

She made her way away from the confused young woman and towards the road; she hoped to follow it away from the school and hopefully towards the liquor store. She needed something that would stop her from focusing on anything. She didn't want to keep thinking. She wanted to just forget about this whole place for now and sleep the rest of her life away. Evelyn didn't even seem to care that if she slept forever then she'd never escape from Freddy.

"Is it strange that I actually want to see you Freddy?" Evelyn asked out loud even though she knew no one was there to hear her.

She sighed and ran a hand through her tousled locks as her feet scuffed the paved road. Her eyes fell sadly onto the small rocks that she kicked along and she went out of her way to squish the small bugs that crossed her path. So she never saw it coming; the thing that was going out of it's way to squish her.

Someone's scream startled her eyes from the ground and many other voices joined it in a chorus that rang around her. Evelyn's mouth fell open in horror as Kristina's car veered towards her. She would never be able to get out of the way no matter where she ran so she did all she could; look Kristina in the eyes and meet her death head on.

Kristina's eyes were wild like those of a frightened animal and her hands were gripping the wheel so tightly Evelyn could see how white they were through the window. Her eyes watered and she wished that she had gone home with Alfred as the world fell into slow motion around her. A couple of students were running towards her hoping to push her out of the way in time while others simply watched on in intrigue and horror. The wind curled around her as if kissing her sweetly goodbye while something moved dangerously inside the car.

Freddy was leaning out from behind the driver's seat with his claws pressed against Kristina's neck. Evelyn couldn't believe it; it looked like he was threatening her into doing this! However his eyes slid up to meet hers and she found herself quite unable to describe the look he gave her before he pulled his finger across Kristina's neck creating a thin red line.

Evelyn blinked and in an instant Freddy was gone and time had jumped back to normal. Blood poured from the wound and Kristina's head tilted backwards opening the cut even further. Her hands fell off the wheel and the vehicle flew to the side sweeping Evelyn with a blast of wind that pulled the air from her lungs. The sounds around her dulled before she slowly turned to face the car that had nearly stolen her life as a terrible realization seeped into her mind.

Freddy Krueger had just saved her life.


	9. Chapter 9

**I am so sorry for taking forever to update! Two months oh god I swore I'd never be one of those writers... I will never take this long again! It was due to working too much and having the flu. Work and sleep has been my life. I haven't edited because I just wanted to post it write away. I might be able to read over and fix up any little mistakes with in the next couple days. Until then I hope you all enjoy what I have written. Love you all lots and don't hate me too much!**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_After seeing that their top suspect, myself, had almost been killed by another roommate the police decided that their investigation was over. And judging by the blood covered scissors that had fallen beneath the seat of the car it looked like Kristina had attempted to kill me and herself at the same time. They have since decided that she had also killed Damian and had only been trying to frame me._

_I wonder if it's wrong for me to be thankful to Freddy. He's killed two innocent people now. Granted they were both terrible people but they weren't the worst this world had to offer. _

_But they were the worst that the world had offered me._

_Brie and I were removed from school grounds the next day. I don't know if I'll see her again. I'm living in an apartment that's completely paid for; so they can keep me safe. Everything's to keep me safe. But I could sneak to me if I really wanted to so what would stop anyone else? As far as I can tell Freddy is the only thing keeping me safe. And the only thing that I need to be protected from._

Luke hesitated for a moment as he leaned away from the tattered little book with an eyebrow slightly cocked. This is what had Kelly so rattled? He flipped through the book sceptically before releasing a huge sigh and throwing it angrily onto his desk where it fell open and nearly slid off the edge.

She had probably written the whole thing herself; there was no way that that little book was actually someone's diary. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling in disappointment. It only stood to reason that the one girl in university to talk to him would be the craziest one it had to offer.

Luke spun his chair around thoughtfully as he huffed out a large spout of air and mulled the question of what to do now. He felt obligated to give the novel back to her but at the same time he didn't really want to see her again. He worried that if he did he'd get sucked into her little make-believe adventure again.

The way Kelly had described the events in the book before made it sound almost like a murder mystery but from what he had read just now it sounded like a poorly written fantasy novel.

Scratching his head in thought he finally decided that the best thing to do would be to just ignore the whole thing for now. If she came to him looking for the book he'd give it back but until then he planned on leaving it alone.

Removing himself from the swivel chair he made his way towards the kitchen for some dinner leaving the book to its own devices. The wind from the open window spun through the pages and continued to flip them forward as it searched for the next part of the journey and eagerly waited for the story to tell itself.

* * *

Evelyn sat quietly on the couch staring down the morning coffee she poured herself each day but never actually drank. It seemed as though no matter where she went there was always someone waiting to destroy her.

"You're not helping anyone," she told the counsellor calmly as she rested her hands on the cup to steal its warmth.

The young man sitting at the dining room table raised a perfectly sculpted blonde eyebrow at her but said nothing.

The apartment she had been put into was as small as it could possibly be with dented wooden furniture and stained beige walls. The couch she was sitting on was held up by a thick piece of wood that stopped the cushions from sinking into the floor which screamed at her with a shaggy tan carpet.

The counsellor that Evelyn had come to know as Chris Pratt brushed a hand through his thick blonde hair before scribbling a couple notes onto his clipboard.

He had been assigned to Evelyn two months ago when she had left school to monitor how the events had affected her psychologically. Evelyn doubted that he had much to report back as she lived as normally as any human being could by going to work five days a week and doing chores around her home on her days off.

"Sure I am," he finally replied before gracing her with the same lopsided smile he had managed all those times before. "I'm helping you."

She sighed and picked up her small cup of coffee to carry it over to the kitchen sink where she dumped it. "It's been two months. If you were helping me I think you would have managed to by now."

He tutted her with a shake of his finger. "Healing of the mind takes time. And I still don't think you've come to terms with the deaths."

She tilted her head towards him in curiosity. "They're dead. I will never see them again. What else is there to come to terms with?"

"Death is a complicated thing. The terms of it differ for each person..."

"Then why can't these be my terms?" She rolled her eyes and started back to the couch where her work uniform lay in a ball between the cushions. "Look Pratt, we've had this same conversation every morning for the past two months and it won't change no matter how many times you come back here. They're dead; I'm not. I don't care. What I do care about is that every day I have to put up with some neatly dressed know-it-all who keeps trying to tell me what is and what isn't."

She yanked the over sized black polo shirt over her head caused immense static in her hair before slamming her hands down on the table in front of him almost knocking off her already crooked name tag. "You don't know anything about me, about my life or about how I feel. You just get paid to think you do. You're wasting your time here and annoying me so I'd appreciate it if you just wrote whatever you need to on that little piece of paper of yours and didn't come back tomorrow."

When all of this had first happened Evelyn had attempted to explain that she believed the deaths were the work of a man named Freddy Krueger. She didn't believe that she was the only one who could see him. He had to be real in more ways than that. However her voice was quickly silenced when she realised that no one believed her and her thoughts were only driving them to the conclusion that she was crazy. Perhaps she was but she wouldn't go away for it.

"See Evelyn this is exactly what I'm talking about," he told her as he scribbled a couple of notes down onto the clipboard. "I believe your aggression is entirely based off of what happened around you back in university. Something is causing this aggression and I believe once we find it we can start to work out your problems."

"You've been here two months, if there was a problem shouldn't you have found it by now?"

He smiled at her again. "It takes time Evelyn," he told her again.

Evelyn rolled her eyes at him and moved away from the table. "I'm going to work," she announced angrily and she grabbed her bag and spun around away from him.

"Would you like to go out for dinner after work?"

The question stopped her in her tracks and her hand slid away from the doorknob as she turned back to face him.

"Excuse me? I'm already your unwilling client I don't want to be your social experiment too."

"No no it's not like that," he defended as he stood up. "I just don't like that you think I'm such a terrible person and I want to prove differently to you. There's no catch. No clipboards, no tapes, no talk about work."

She contemplated his offer for a moment and found she couldn't find any down side to his offer. Perhaps spending some personal time with Chris would make him more tolerable to be around.

"Alright. I'm off work at 5."

"Would you like me to pick you up or meet you here?" He walked to meet up beside her at the door.

"At my work will be fine." She looked at him let him out first before following him onto the streets where they parted ways.

She mulled the concept of dinner with psychologist over in her head as her body carried her through the day. Evelyn managed to get herself a job as a waitress once they had forced her to live on her own; it was her own way of escaping from her now lonely existence and the nightmares that haunted her. It wasn't much but while she was working her brain was hardly able to focus on anything of terrible importance. Luckily her arranged dinner with her psychologist wasn't very important to her.

Her day went by terribly fast and by the end the pony tail she had pulled her hair into had fallen apart and dangled in her eyes.

"You off work already?" Her coworker Ashley looked at her curiously as she swiped the black bangs from her eyes.

"Yeah I am." Evelyn shrugged but offered the punk girl a smile anyway; she was the nicest person in the whole restaurant.

"Any plans tonight? Or you just going to sit at home like usual."

"Actually," Evelyn began, "I'm going out for dinner tonight."

"Ohhh with a boy?" Ashley's smile was both teasing and devious and Evelyn felt her grin widen playfully.

Evelyn rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yes with a boy. Don't get too excited though I'm just appeasing him so that he'll leave me alone."

The little bell above the door dinged and Evelyn and Ashley looked over to see Chris letting the door fall closed behind him. His blonde hair was more unkempt than she's ever seen in giving him a handsomely dishevelled look. He wore a tight black tee shirt that Evelyn couldn't help but admit looked nice on him. His blue jeans were lightly faded and she was surprised to find him wearing dirty white runners.

He grinned at her before she could wipe away the smile Ashley had left on her face and the punk grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Oh my god there is no way he's here to see you he's so gorgeous!"

Evelyn blushed as she looked back at him. She'd only ever seen him with his hair slicked back in the same brown suit he wore every time he came to see her. She had to admit she felt terribly underdressed for what could only be called a date.

"Yeah that's Chris," she replied uncertainly.

"You are not going to see him like that," Ashley hissed at her. "My purse is underneath the time clock in the back room. My shirt is in there; you are going to put it on and leave whatever frump you're wearing in my bag. You can give my shirt back tomorrow."

Without waiting for an answer Ashley ran off to greet Chris and Evelyn apprehensively made her way to Ashley's purse. The red shirt she found inside clung to her body but was held onto her shoulders only by small black chains. The sleeves were large and baggy and barely reached her elbows. It was not something she would have picked out for herself but was surprised to find it pleasantly flattering even with her oversized black dress pants.

Not wanting to be impolite and keep him waiting any longer Evelyn made sure that her house keys and wallet were still in her pockets before stuffing her black tank and uniform in Ashley's purse and coming out to meet up with him.

"You look good," he complimented when he saw her. "I didn't expect you to get all dressed up for me."

"A friend of mine thought it was a good idea," Evelyn said as she cast a scolding glace back at Ashley who hid behind the bar counter.

"Well shall we go then?" Chris offered her his arm and cautiously she reached out and held onto his elbow.

He took her outside a paraded her down the street as he led her where ever it was that he planned on treating her to dinner. Evelyn's eyes fell around and noticed the strange gazes that were covering her as she clung to Chris's elbow. Did she really look that strange now that people couldn't believe that she would be on the arm of such a handsome young man? Partly out of apprehension and partly out of resentment she clutched his arm tighter and pulled herself against him. It felt strange for her to be so close to any man but she would be lying if she didn't admit that it was a pleasant feeling. The walk remained quiet but Evelyn didn't mind as she had grown used to silence and found it comfortable. He took her a few blocks away to a classy restaurant with some French name she couldn't quite pronounce. She's have to remember to thank Ashley for the shirt considering it helped her feel a little less out of place around all the nicely dressed people.

"Hey," Chris greeted the host casually.

The dazzling brunette man behind the host's podium smiled at him. "Hey Chris I was wondering when you'd get here. This must be Evelyn?"

Evelyn offered him the warmest smile she could muster as she assumed that this was a friend of Chris's. "That's me, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The brunette smiled back and brushed a hand down his black vest self-consciously. "No the pleasure's all mine. It's been way too long since I've seen my little cousin here with a girl. Name's Craig."

"Alright alright," Chris laughed cutting off the pleasantries. "No need to tell her things like that."

Evelyn couldn't help but find it cute of honestly embarrassed Chris was as she snickered lightly. Craig laughed before finally doing his job as host and leading them to their table.

Chris managed to keep all his promises of keeping the evening entirely social and Evelyn found her time spent there somewhat pleasant. He was an awkward young man to be around on a personal level; sometimes chattering up a strong only to fall into silence with a blush or fiddling strangely with the table cloth as if fascinated by it. He would get excited or the strangest and smallest things and he never seemed to be able to carry on a conversation with her for very long before a silence would coat them. All in all he seemed almost socially retarded. It made her feel a little better at life; even if just a little bit.

Numerous glasses of wine and a small but pricey dinner later and a mildly drunken Eve and slightly buzzed Chris made their way onto the sidewalk to wait for their taxi.

"Okay I gotta admit. Not a total waste of my time," Evelyn laughed as she felt into the dank smelling cab.

"Glad to hear," Chris laughed along with her his cheeks just as flushed as hers.

After Chris told the driver their destination he fell back against his seat and began to giggle when the foreign man behind the wheel turned up the music and pulled the car away from the sidewalk. Evelyn just figured that the poor taxi driver had had a long night and wanted to drown out a couple of drunken youngsters.

"You're a lot more fun to be around than I thought you'd be," Evelyn admitted as his giggle contaminated her.

Chris turned to her with a sheepish smile and blush painted on his cheeks that was a sign that the alcohol had begun to affect him.

She smiled at him; he was almost childish in how he was when he wasn't working. He was a sweet and caring person and she had to admit he was handsome and funny as well. A strange feeling came over her and her smile slowing fell away. Even amidst the noise of the cab she could hear her heart beating incredibly fast and she felt an urge warm her stomach.

Without waiting for him to cease his laughter her own disoriented mind ordered to get closer to him and she eagerly complied. She pressed up against him and awkwardly moved her lips against his taking the blonde by surprise.

His befuddled mind jumped in surprise but despite the ever pressing fact that she was his client first and foremost her warm mouth felt too good to deny. Even though he was a handsome young man he was terribly awkward when it came to women and he found it had been far too long since he had enjoyed one's company in such a way.

Chris's hands slid up her arms before gripping her shoulders and pressed her body against his. Evelyn's mouth matched his own move for move and her own delicate nervous hands tugged the bottom of his shirt. A small moan escaped her mouth and it nearly caused him to tremble. With a gasp he had to pull away and with heavy breathing he stared at the brunette in front of him. Her lips were still red and parted slightly as she stared up at him with large pleading eyes. Her arms which still reached for him pressed her breasts together so that the tops of the soft mounds could be seen just above the neckline of her shirt.

He groaned and pulled her hands off his shirt before looking away from her. "I can't do this. You're...You're still my client. This is wrong. You're drunk. I can't take advantage of you."

Her lips pouted out and she leaned closer to him again; the pink of her cheeks illuminated against the pale of her face. "But I want you too," Evelyn pleaded.

Evelyn had to stop her eyes from watering at her own need. She knew she was drunk but she could also tell that what she was feeling was true. It had been way too long since any man had looked at her like that or touched her so intimately. She needed that. She needed to know that someone normal, someone real, took an interest in her. Someone that wasn't Freddy.

"Please Chris." She knew she was begging but she didn't care as she was that desperate.

Her hands slid up his chest causing him to shudder and turn away. He scooted as far away from her as he could in the cramped and foul smelling back seat. "No," he said firmly.

She could hear that there was no room for argument in his voice and with a heavy sigh she fell back against the door and let the coolness of the glass attempt to drag the blush from her face. The rest of the car ride was a long and awkward. There were no good byes exchanged when the cab pulled to a stop in front of Evelyn's house and only a solemn glance was given through a tinted window as the cab pulled away.

Evelyn stumbled her way into her place with distraught feature as her mind curled itself around the events of the night. Hot tears stained her cheeks though she barely felt them as she collapsed onto her bed and allowed her own darkness to consume her.

The alcohol pounded against her mind and she slowly began to remember why she never liked drinking wine. A glass of water. Her body and mind cried for one to ease the pain that she knew would come in the morning. With a groan she rolled over in an attempt to get herself to her feet. She rolled until she fell off the side of the bed and hoped that when her face greeted the floor she was either startled awake or knocked out. Neither of those options were gifted to her.

A cough erupted from her lungs as the neck of her shirt pulled back against her throat and she was thrown to the ground. Grass pressed against her sweating palms as she opened her eyes to find herself in the all too familiar forest.

"Hello Freddy," Evelyn whispered cautiously. It had been a long time since she'd last been visited by the ghostly murder. Even longer since she'd seen this forest.

Angrily she shoved her way through the branches that whipped at her face and legs in return. Ashley would kill her over that shirt, Evelyn quietly mused as she burst through the line of trees that led her to Nancy's old house. Only this time the her storyline thoughts took a different turn; darkness was all that surrounded her past the trees and her foot fell against nothing as it reached for ground. And with nothing to step on she pitched forward and plummeted into the darkness with a desperate scream. As her body painfully collided with the sharp rough ground she let out another cry. Evelyn's soft hands lifted her off the pavement while blood drizzled restlessly from the gash that now existed in her forehead. Her legs wobbled as they tried to keep her up so she could look around the desolate place she had fallen into.

It was her own home block on Elm Street. Her parents home now anyway. She road she stood of was cold and hardly in proper shape. The sides of it where it should have met up with some sidewalk were crumbling away with the yellow lines were peeling back. Crows cawed at her from the dark yards where they hopped upon the cars and pecked at the carcasses of long since dead mice. They stared at her with calculating pitch black eyes that flashed with green when the moonlight glanced off of them. Her head was spinning as she looked around dazed and confused at the houses with their matching paint jobs and poorly cut lawns. Her heavy eyes blinked and covered her mind in another haze of darkness for a mere moment before opening again to see a crimson lit world that had haunted only her worst thoughts for the longest time.

Freddy's boiler.

"Freddy?"

The second she spoke his name his laughter echoed around her and she cringed away in horror. She spun around searching for the source of the echo despite knowing in her heart that she wouldn't find it.

"Freddy!" Her scream shattered the laughter and filled the glowing abyss with a red hot fury.

As her scream died away and Evelyn found herself surrounded by a deafening silence. She glanced around and waited for him to appear out of nowhere like he usually did. Instead a horrible screech filled the boiler room and Evelyn hissed and covered her ears as she glared in the direction of the sound. Freddy emerged from the steam quite a ways away from her with his clawed fingers dragging along the wall. Sparks sprouted from the tips as the metal screamed at her in its journey. She watched him slowly approach her with the intense gaze of a prowling animal as he finally pulled his hand away from the wall.

"Hello Evelyn, my dearest." His voice ran through her like the thickest coldest blood and she couldn't suppress the shiver.

"It's been a long time Freddy," Evelyn replied back in her strongest voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

His face cracked into a twisted grin and she frowned at him uncertainly. "I'm surprised that you can speak so well after all the things chasing through your blood."

"What?" Was he referring to the alcohol? Why did that matter to him? "What're you talking about?"

"All that drink you had tonight." He looked down at his fingers while he clicked them together before running them delicately along her shoulder blades. "It made it mildly difficult for me to bring you here. Your mind was wandering to so many wonderfully dark places. Just not the ones I wanted."

"You've been ignoring me for a really long time Freddy, why bring me here now? Don't you have any other poor mentally unstable people to terrorize?"

"Now now Evelyn don't be jealous, you'll always be my favourite."

"I'd hardly call it jealousy," she hissed back at him.

"Do you not get jealous?" She watched him as he stood beside her tapping his fingers carefully against her shoulder. When she failed to provide him with an answer his face curled into a snarl and he slammed the blades into her shoulder eliciting a blood curdling scream from the young brunette. "Because I do Evelyn. I get very jealous." He spat the last word out with such venom that she nearly felt it burn when he ripped the claws from her shoulder.

"Freddy...what the hell do you have to be jealous of," she panted heavily. "I can swear to you that no other tormented souls are haunting my dreams."

He took his normal hand an cupped the underneath of her chin and turned her face upwards. The blood had drizzled all the way from the now crusted gash on her forehead down to the top of her lips where it remained to scared to continue its journey.

His face wrought with all seriousness his grip became harsh on her chin. "It's nothing in this world dear Evelyn. I have total control over everything here."

"Nothing...here?" She stared at him with wide eyes while horror coated her features. Tears began to tumble from her eyes to mingle with the dried blood on her face. Only one thing came to mind as a sob whispered through her lips. "Oh god...Chris? You're jealous of Chris?"

"You never do those kind of things with me," he hissed.

And just like that Evelyn began to break apart piece by piece on the inside.

* * *

**Please don't hate me! I promise everything will make sense next chapter and that this isn't the end of the story! Super promise! **


	10. Chapter 10

**The concept of Happily-Maybe-Sometimes is property and idea of She's come undone by Wally Lamb.**

**Sorry for the late update everyone! It took forever for this chapter. No matter how many times I wrote it the next time I went over it I would just go rawr and rewrite a huge chunk. So hopefully you all like how it turned out in the end. Please enjoy and review. I promise you everything from the last chapter will make sense this time haha.**

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**Chapter 10**

Kelly paced relentlessly in her small dorm room as her hand scratched her head vigorously. Stray bits of dry and malnourished hair remained wrapped around her fingers until they were shaken to the floor only to be flattened by her dirty socked feet. Her skin was much paler than could ever be healthy for anyone of any age and large dark bags pressed beneath her eyes.

In an instant she spun around and pressed her face to the window so that all the night could see her desperate and wild face.

She had to get that diary back.

Luke had been ignoring her calls and was conveniently never there when she went to his door. Her hands clenched and she dragged her cracked fingers nails down the glass. It had been too long since he'd taken the diary even if he'd only gotten it because of her own negligence. She felt like a piece of her had gone missing with it.

She'd tried playing nice about getting it back but he apparently wasn't interested her little games. Now she had to play at something different. She slinked out of her room and past the roommates and who and long since started ignoring her. She knew that they thought she was crazy; everyone did. Her feet slid into her shoes and she bolted out the door with silent steps. For someone who had hardly eaten lately she appeared surprisingly athletic. Her energy unwavering she tore through the halls and down the stairs past startled and slightly frightened people. She ran outside into the crisp night and gulped its air down before looking around to see the entire dorm. Her eyes carnivorously scanned the walls for a specific window. Kelly's hungry eyes found it two floors below her own but still quite a ways from the ground; Luke's window.

The buildings walls were slick with paint but there were small grooves where the stones had been put together and she followed the map that they laid out for her.

The diary hidden in that poorly coloured room above her was the key to her very existence. Without it in her thin hands she felt like she would never be able to fully move forward with her life. She made her way to the wall in a manner much like a large cat circling prey that had treed itself in an attempt to get away. Her hands tested the feeling of the stone with delicate fingers that pried and pushed at the cracks.

It'd be dangerous but not impossible.

Four stories; it wasn't terribly high but it certainly wasn't a hop skip and a jump away.

Her hand tested the slick surface once more before she placed the tip of her shoe into the groove and pushed herself up. It was testy but it was stable enough. Powered by sheer insanity she scaled the wall as if it were nothing with steady tight movements. Her body swung back and forth between holds and her toes clenched behind their rubber casing. People screamed and pointed if they managed to see her within the harsh cold darkness.

Her breathing deepened as the physical exertion finally began to take its toll on her. Her lungs heaved with the effort it took to keep herself glued to the wall as she finally scrambled towards the window she was so desperately looking for. It was lit up by only a single table lamp allowing her to cautiously peer in past the thin mesh screen. It was definitely Luke's room; she recognized the one promiscuous poster he'd been so embarrassed about when she'd first stopped by for a visit.

Her eyes dilated when they fell upon the poorly kept diary lying open on the desk just beyond the screen. Her face ripped into a snarl; she was so close!

One of her hands desperately snatched out at the mesh and her dry fingernails caught for only a moment before breaking at the pressure. Kelly nearly screamed in her frustration before slamming her fist furiously against the thin slice of mesh that stood between her and victory. It rattled with the force and sprung free of the window before clattering to the floor and bouncing off the desk in its descent. She flinched at the noise but her slender arm launched through the opening without hesitation and snatched the diary from its resting place before she let out a sigh of relief.

Finally it was back in her hands. She could feel it slowly beat along with her heart.

Suddenly the door flew open to reveal a livid Luke and the loud bang from the door handle hitting the wall shattered her peaceful moment. Her eyes filled with horror as she met his burning gaze and as she leaned away her balance shifted against the wall and her foot slid against the tiles. Diary still in hand she slipped from the side of the building and plummeted four stories to the ground below.

* * *

"EVELYN!"

Evelyn's eyes flew open in horror and her lungs sucked in obscene amounts of air until she rolled to the side and coughed like the plague had filled her. Her body twitched and convulsed with the coughs as a soft hand patted her back.

"Are you going to be alright?"

Evelyn looked up to see her landlord staring down at her with concerned eyes. The forty-something woman lived on the top floor of the apartment building and always seemed to carry an air of unannounced elegance with her. The woman's black hair was short and patchy; still growing back from her run in with cancer a while back.

"?" Evelyn heaved out the words as if it took a world of effort to say them. "What are you doing here?"

"A couple of your neighbours called me with noise complaints so I came over. When you never answered your door I opened it up anyway and found you convulsing on the floor."

"Oh."

"Are you alright?"

Evelyn nodded as she sat up. "I think it was just a nightmare."

_A nightmare._ Evelyn's eyes instantly shot to her shoulder before a startled frown hit her face. Right where Freddy had stabbed his claws into her shoulder there was nothing but smooth unscarred skin. She ran her hand softly across the skin just make sure but it was perfect.

"...it was...just a nightmare." Just a regular nightmare.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ms. Jacobs stood up and straightened out her nightgown. "I'm glad to know you're okay Evelyn, but as it was just a nightmare I'm afraid I'm going to have to write up a warning."

"That's fair," Evelyn told her as she pulled herself from the floor to sit on her bed again. As Ms. Jacobs left her room Evelyn couldn't help but continue to rub her hand against her shoulder where marks should've been.

Freddy...hadn't really been there? Of course not; he had been so...out of character. He wasn't interested in her _like that_. He was interested in screwing with her mind not her body. She let out a heavy sigh before her head fell into her hands and her nails racked at her skull.

That had been the first real nightmare she'd had in months. Ever since Freddy came along. It was so strange to feel like a normal person with normal nightmares even if it was just for one night. She ran a hand through her thick tousled hair and made her way to her kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She didn't feel comfortable going back to sleep and figured she'd quit while she was ahead.

Evelyn sipped her coffee and allowed the bags to grow beneath her eyes while she waited for morning to arrive along with Chris. She needed to apologise to him for last night and hopefully this time convince him to quit his job. It may have only been a nightmare but she feared that nothing good would come from her being too close to anyone.

She already feared for one of her coworkers. The woman had been a horrid person with poisonous words and one day she had nearly gotten Evelyn fired for something that wasn't her fault. The next day she had apparently fallen into a coma; one that doctors said tormented her due to nightmares.

A few hours later, right on time, Chris knocked on her door before using his spare key to enter.

"G-Good morning Evelyn," he said awkwardly as he managed a small smile.

She looked up at him from her place at the table and smiled cautiously in return. She'd since changed into a long sleeved grey sweater that hung from her shoulders and a pair of black jeans.

"Hello Chris," she replied. "I'm...I'm very sorry for last night. I don't usually drink around other people...and I'm not used to wine. I'm very sorry."

"Evelyn, it's quite alright." He took a seat across the table from her and looked at her curiously. "So how are you this morning?"

Evelyn almost laughed. Always the professional Chris has pushed away his personal feelings and pulled out his clipboard.

"Tired," she admitted. "I had a nightmare last night."

"Another Freddymare?" He scribbled a few notes onto his clipboard as he used the word he had made up for illusions of Freddy.

"Well, he was in it. But no it was just a regular nightmare." She nearly shrugged and ignored the raised eyebrow he presented to her.

"Nothing...unusual?"

"Nothing at all." She sipped her coffee again.

Chris stared at her for a moment before writing a few more notes. "So what are your plans for the day then? It's your day off right?"

She nodded at him and traced a finger around the rim of her cup. "I was just thinking about going out and getting a few groceries today. And then maybe cleaning things up when I get back."

"This place could use a little cleaning," Chris told her in jest.

She just gave him a casual smile and for the next while answered all the questions that he pestered her with until he finally left her alone in her own room. She finished off another two cups of coffee before she finally pulled herself from her slump at the table to start what might've been the first normal day of her life.

* * *

Kelly's eyes slowly fluttered open as her head lolled to the side. She felt tired and nauseous at the same time as she tried to get her bearings. She felt a thick uncomfortable fabric beneath her hands that she wrapped her fingers around in test. Bed sheets?

Her eyes focused on the bright white area around her and she frowned at the stale and crisp smell.

"Hello?" Her voice rang through the empty space around her as she tilted her head up to see the hospital room she was sitting in.

Both her legs were wrapped in thick casts and suspended in stirrups; she frowned wondering if this was what having kids would feel like. Kelly realised she must have broken both her legs when she fell from the dorms. Suddenly a great sense of panic overcame her as she realised she might have lost the book when she fell. She glanced around wildly but released a sigh when she saw it on the foldable table beside her bed. Picking things up off the ground to bring with someone to the hospital didn't seem like something a nurse or ambulance attendant would have done but she decided to count her blessings and not jinx her good luck. Her frail hands fumbled over to the table and she felt new life breathed into her as her fingers tightly gripped the cold cover. She pulled it to her chest and let the feeling reach her core as she breathed in its heavily stale scent. It had been way too long. Without much more hesitation she flipped the pages and caught up with all that she had missed reading.

_It was almost strange and lonely not hearing from Freddy. Despite all the horror he brought with him he had become the one constant in my life. Having a normal dream of him without any real consequences made me question what had occurred over the past while. Chris's visits became less frequent; maybe once or twice a week depending on how well the last visit went. Even he wasn't constant. I miss talking to Brie so I called her up today and she said she'd be home from work after two if I had wanted to stop by. I think seeing a friendly face might be the best thing for me._

* * *

Evelyn walked carefully through the streets wearing her favourite grey sweater and blue jeans. It was the middle of winter and a freezing rain poured from the sky dousing all the characters below it. She carried a large black umbrella over her head that blocked most of the rain until the wind would sweep it beneath and into her face. Her blue jeans were stained dark from where the rain had soaked them through and she constantly cursed herself for not bringing a jacket. Luckily Brie's apartment wasn't too much farther so she wouldn't have to endure this horrible weather.

Her soaking wet feet kicked at the puddles as she walked through them earning her a few glares from people she would accidentally splash. Not like they weren't wet enough already like they could really tell the difference. She gave her umbrella a shake to rid it of its excess water as she entered the residential area that would lead her to Brie's new apartment. As she scuffed her shoes lazily along the wet ground Evelyn pondered what she might talk to Brie about.

School? No; Brie knew how that was a sensitive subject for her and probably wouldn't bring it up unless in jest. The weather? It seemed so painfully obvious and boring. The events perhaps? No. The wounds were too fresh. There had to be something they could talk about or there was no point in a visit. Evelyn nearly laughed; maybe they'd talk about their hopes and dreams.

A happily-maybe-sometimes. Evelyn dreamt and hoped for a happily-maybe-sometimes. Evelyn had long ago stopped believing in a happily-ever-after and now just hoped that in the future she would be a little happy sometimes. It didn't have to be all the time but sometimes would be nice.

Evelyn released a heavy sigh and breathed in the scent of the rain. Who ever wished for a happily-maybe-sometimes? She felt so bland. Her life may have been note worthy but there wasn't a thing about her as a person that was note worthy. Some days she wasn't sure why she bothered keeping a diary at all.

She watched as the sidewalk began to empty of people. The stores were still open and people were still finishing up their work days and the children were still in school. Despite the thunder that rumbled over her head she loved the absence of society. As she strode deeper and deeper into the residential area she noticed less and less people outside of their houses and that the clouds seemed to darken. She pulled her umbrella closer to her body as the thunder sounded again even louder than before and hoped that she would arrive at Brie's house soon. However fate was not on her side. Lightning flashed and lit up the night sky before sending Evelyn into darkness.

Freddy watched her quiver and shake on the pavement as she blindly fumbled around and her hands tapped around for something other than concrete. The wind had long ago swept her umbrella away and he laughed. The lights from the parts of the city that was still lit didn't reach here leaving the brunette it complete and utter pitch black.

As terror and panic were the only things that ever allowed him to dabble in the material world if even for a little bit he certainly wasn't going to waste all of his precious time with one of the few people he could terrify whenever he so felt like it. However, after sending an entire elementary school into panic, causing a few of the elderly to die of heart attacks, and making a couple of high school jocks pee themselves he had grown curious to see what Evelyn was doing during this dire situation. He had tasted her fear even in the shadows on the brighter sides of the city and soon the temptation had become too much for even him to resist.

In the end he was quite pleased in his decision to come see her. She was terrified. He had seen in her mind that she was scared of the dark but he had never imagined it would be quite this bad. She was slowly twitching along the ground in search of something. He doubted it was her umbrella but he found himself curious. She was soaked to the core and shivering but rather than stand up and run for something or even walk she was scrabbling along the ground sobbing. She had been in the middle of an intersection when the blackout had struck and he hadn't seen her reach the sidewalk yet.

He stood around watching her for awhile until she finally released a cry of defeat and pulled herself into a ball. Her sobs echoed throughout the streets and her fear shook through him. It was absolutely delicious and though he tried to stay away he couldn't help his need to deepen it.

Silently he made his way through the darkness towards her as she continued to remain unaware that he was even there. There was simply too much fun to be had. He reached down and began to drag his claws along the ground. Evelyn jerked her head up and was looking around absolutely everywhere for the source but the screech echoed perfectly through the streets.

"Freddy?" Her cry of desperation and panic was like beautiful music to him as he pulled his claws away from the ground so he could approach her in silence once again.

"Freddy...?" She shakily made her way to her feet as through her sobs she tried to see through the darkness.

"Hello Evelyn."

She turned to face him though she couldn't really see him and seemed to be contemplating which way to step. Her pale soaked form clung to itself as her hair hung in hunks around her face. However the bright eyes he had come to love seeing filled with terror were somehow both dull and panicked. Like the eyes of someone who, though still scared for their life, had long ago given up hope of surviving.

"Freddy?"

He decided not to answer her as he watched her finally decided to take a cautious step forward.

"You weren't...I had a nightmare last night Freddy. You were in it...but you weren't really 'in it'...were you?" She was shaking as she spoke to him and it was hard to tell where the terror shakes started and where the cold shakes did.

She had had a nightmare of him last night? How interesting. How didn't answer for a moment watching the slight twitches in her face.

"Mmmm...Evelyn you know just as well as I do that if it were me you wouldn't be outside today. You'd be quivering in the darkness of your own home rather than out on the streets."

She took a couple more steps towards him with one of the pale hands stretched towards him. He made sure to stay just out of her reach enjoying the look of deepening desperation on her face. Thinking he'd have a little fun he held out his gloved hand and watched her stop dead as the tips of his knives pressed against her chest. Her lower lip began to quiver as her hands slowly reached up to assess the hand to see if it was really him.

There's something Freddy didn't understand; that Evelyn wasn't just 'afraid' of the dark she was terrified of it. It was something of a phobia. The thing that most people don't understand about phobias is that they're irrational. They don't make sense to some people and that those experiencing them all react differently. Some freeze up, some faint, some panic, some get violent. Normally Evelyn would've had a panic attack or frozen up. This time though she wasn't in a safe place; she was out in the middle of an area she wasn't familiar with. She couldn't see anything and she couldn't feel anything. What she had been searching for in the darkness wasn't her umbrella; it was anything. She would've wanted to find the sidewalk or even a man hole. Anything that made her feel like the darkness wasn't never ending.

Now she had found something solid. Something other than the concrete. The other thing about phobias is they usually cause people to do things that they normally wouldn't ever consider doing. Such as confront one fear in order to escape another. Which is exactly what Evelyn did.

The minute she felt his hand beneath her fingers it didn't matter that it was Freddy. She wasn't alone; there was something in the darkness. There was something.

She launched herself forward and wrapped her arms around him taking the nightmare devil completely by surprise. She just needed to feel something to know that there was something else there. Her fingers gripped at the rough and torn sweater as she buried her face into his chest.

Despite Freddy being far more dangerous than anything else Evelyn had ever encountered she wasn't frightened at that very second. She felt safe. She felt more at ease. Because he was keeping the darkness away.

She pressed her face deeper against him not wanting the safety to leave her until the smell of stale blood and mildew filled her and the thought of who it was she was holding finally struck her. But it was too late. The lights flickered back on as the clouds rumbled lightly up above and she found herself standing alone in the cold rainy street.

"Oh God...oh no..." She knees rattled together in fear. What the hell had she just done? Signed her own death warrant is what. She fell to her knees, bruising them against the pavement, as she stared at the ground and allowed the rain to pelt her relentlessly. "He's going to kill me. He's going to fucking kill me." Her voice shattered against the harsh wind and fell against deaf ears.

How stupid could she have been that the friggen darkness was scarier than a murderous demonic nightmare. If only she had put up with everything for a few more seconds the lights would have come back on...but she hadn't. Instead she had made a horrible mistake.

There was nothing she could do anymore except wait for the next time that she saw him and hope that he would make it quick and painless.

Secretly she knew he wouldn't.


	11. Chapter 11

Big thanks to Zerousy ! You inspire me to keep writing more even when I think I can't! I hope you enjoy my twisted chapter!

Remember to please review if you enjoyed it peoples! 3

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Chapter 11

More black coffee spilled over the edges of the cup as Evelyn's hands continued to shake. The bags under her eyes had grown tenfold in the past while; a sign of her lack of sleep. This next sign was the constant twitching of her eyes and the tired slump of her shoulders. Her movements would be sluggish one moment and jumpy the next as she attempted to go about her daily life. Her boss had demanded that she not return to work until she was capable and had been seen by a doctor. Evelyn Black had no intentions of seeing a doctor. She didn't need that on her record just when it seemed like Chris was going to leave her alone and tell everyone that she was getting better.

What would she tell the doctor anyway? "Hi there, I have been up for the past few days because I'm afraid to go to sleep because I hugged a nightmare demon and I'm afraid he'll kill me the minute I close my eyes."

Yeah, that would go over just peachily. She might as well just walk in and say "Hi I'm batshit insane."

She groaned in defeat as she slowly stood up and gulped down whatever was left in her mug. Coffee. She needed more coffee.

She poured herself another cup and watched the steam pour from the top. It was almost funny considering she ahd never liked coffee.

She'd have this thing beat; or at least she'd be prepared. She knew she could stay awake for another week at least if she had to.

Something felt strange inside of her; a feeling she couldn't quite understood or name but it both warmed and frightened her. No matter how deep she dug she couldn't quite put her finger on this small uneasy part of her that felt hollow. It was this feeling that made her sob more than the fear that coursed through her.

Still she didn't want to think about that; the thought of an ever pressing death was far more prominent.

Without realising it Evelyn found herself collapsed against the counter crying softly into her spilt coffee her quiet voice reaching out to the walls.

"One,Two, Freddy's coming for you.

Three, Four, Better lock your door.

Five, Six, Grab your crucifix.

Seven, Eight, Better stay awake.

Nine, Ten, Never sleep again."

* * *

_...I could have slept. But only if I wanted to die. I wasn't going there without a deathwish or at least without a plan. But what plan could possibly beat Freddy Krueger? It was a question I just didn't have the answer to. The other question I didn't have an answer to was what was hurting me so badly. I couldn't stop crying. It was mostly out of fear but there was a small part of it that was dedicated to something else. _

Kelly felt her heart racing faster as she flipped to the next page and felt her face curl in confusion. The next entry was years later...

"Something wrong Kelly?"

She gasped and looked up only to find the nurse standing there with a gentle smile holding her charts.

"Is your book not going the way you want it to?"

Kelly let out a cautious laugh and shook her head. "No I suppose you could say that."

"That's too bad," the woman commented as she checked all Kelly's vitals. "I always hate reading a book that doesn't end the way I hope it will."

Kelly just smiled as best she could. "I know this book will have a happy ending, so it's fine." It was sad that she couldn't really even tell that she was just saying that to try and make herself believe it. At first she had been sure that there would be some sort of happy ending even while terrible things were happening. That Alfred had lied to her about the book ending poorly. Now she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Well Miss Black your vitals seem to be good, and everything looks proper. Are you feelings any pain or discomfort?"

"No, nothing that I shouldn't be feeling anyway. One of my legs itches does that count?"

The nurse let out a bright tinkling laugh before placing a hand on Kelly's far too oiled down head. "Not quite but I'm glad to see you've got some spirit back. Do you think that you're feeling well enough for a visitor?"

"A visitor?" Kelly questioned almost as if she didn't know what the word meant.

"Yes," the nurse continued. "There's a handsome young gentleman who's been waiting ever so patiently to see you."

"Yeah...I should be fine to see him," Kelly replied cautiously. What young man could possibly be here to see her? Luke? Oh goodness of course. That bastard probably wanted to come and get mad at her for breaking into his room and taking the diary. It was her property! She had every right to get it back from him.

She heard the shoes clacking along the floor and readied herself for the confrontation.

"Your mother would be very upset if she could see you now."

Kelly jolted at the voice and stared in absolute horror at the man standing in the doorway. "Oh...Uncle Alfred." The look on his face spoke in volumes of the disappointment that he felt for her right now. "What...what are you doing here?"

"I'm your emergency contact on the application. Correct me if I'm wrong but this may just classify as the sort of emergency where said contact might be called." He didn't remove his jacket or scarf signifying to Kelly that he had no intentions of staying very long. "Just tell me one thing Kelly, what were you thinking?"

"Luke had mom's diary," she protested angrily. "He wasn't giving it back I wasn't going to leave it there!"

"Kelly!" His voice raised only slightly in an attempt to not disturb other patients but she could clearly feel his anger.

"You're being ridiculous. You did all this over that stupid book? Do you have any idea how childish you're being? I wish your mother had never written that stupid thing, now hand it over."

"No!" Kelly protested as she clutched it desperately to her chest. "You can't have it! It's mine! You gave it to me!"

"And I want to take it back." He took a few ominous steps towards her with his hand outstretched for the diary. "I didn't want you reading it in the first place and now looks what it's done. It's destroyed you. This isn't what your mother wanted for you!"

"Well it's your fault I'm like this isn't it!" Kelly's words cut through him like ice and his hand fell slightly.

"I suppose it is Kelly. And if it's my fault then I have to fix it. I have to fix this. I don't want you to die like this...this hollow shell barely existing. Me and your mother...we wanted you to live your life to its fullest. That's why we never told you about anything."

"So you know...you know everything?" Kelly tried to adjust herself in the bed but after pain coursed through her legs she settled for just glaring fiercely at him. "You know about everything that happened to her in University?"

"Of course I do Kelly! I was there with her through half of it and years later she told me everything! You have no idea..." Tears began to taint his beautiful eyes and fall relentlessly down his reddening cheeks. "You have no idea what she went through. She never told you because she never wanted you to know. Kelly please give me the book before it's too late."

"Uncle Alfred I'm sorry I love you but no. You're wrong. Mom would want me to know." She pressed the Call Nurse button though her eyes never left his.

He was still shaking his head when the nurse arrived to escort him away. "You're wrong Kelly. You're so wrong," he sobbed. "Evelyn's best kept secret was you..."

"What?"

Kelly was suddenly left with so many unanswered questions but she knew that even if she called him back Alfred wouldn't answer them. But there was something that would. Something that was true to her and never lied.

She brushed a hand affectionately across the cover of the diary before sliding it open to the next entry which had been made two years later.

_Even after I had stopped seeing him, even after I had stopped dreaming about him, Freddy continued to exist in my life. I don't think he realised what an impact he had made on me. Most people would just assume that he had never really been real but I knew better than that. I knew that Freddy was just as real as myself. And what he had made me into was very real. It had taken me awhile to realise just how deeply he had changed me. He never did come back after that blackout; I don't know if it was what I did or if he had just gotten bored with me. Either way when I realised that he wasn't coming back the normal things just didn't seem to scare me anymore; even the darkness had lost its bite for me. People would attempt to intimidate me and I just wasn't bothered by it anymore. Work had tried to abuse my nature for wanting to help out and I finally stood up for myself. It felt amazing. I was only able to do so because I thought...what's the worst that could happen? Something so simple. And nothing that could happen was worse than anything I could imagine Freddy doing. _

_There was a man a year ago. We got very close but all he cared about was the sex aspect of the relationship. I just didn't want it as much as he did. He dumped me then two days later said he loved me and then four days after than had fucked some girl a few towns over and was dating her. It hurt. It had hurt a lot. What made it better was laughter. I thought of what Freddy would've done to him and I laughed. I was much better off without people like him. But it made me feel like something was wrong with me that suddenly the things that Freddy had done were a joke and a comfort despite what they should have been._

_It was then that the strange thought that made me want to write this entry occurred to me and that emptiness I had felt so long ago finally became clear. I missed him. I missed the insane dead psycho Fredrick Charles Krueger. As much as I feared him I missed him. He was something constant in my life and as much as it startled me to think it he was a happy constant. He had terrified and hurt me but without him there I felt empty...almost unprotected without him. I missed knowing that he stood between me and the evils of this world. _

_I wish I knew what had happened to him. Where he was now and what he was doing..._

_

* * *

_

Evelyn had made a lot of wishes lately. She mused this thought as she closed the small diary; it had been so long since she'd written in it. It was almost strange to see the worn and faded book. It had been buried amongst all her things for so long she had almost forgot that she had it. She hadn't needed it since she had moved in with Alfred and Peter. Peter was Alfred's newest boyfriend; an amazingly nice young man with the ambition to become a lawyer. He was very good at helping Evelyn with her studies. She had decided to take the courses she needed from home shortly after leaving her apartment. It was the only thing her parents ever thought might be respectable about her; her mind. If she wanted them to take her seriously then it was the only thing she could do.

"Evelyn! Peter! I'm home!" A grin spread across her face as she flung herself from her spot on the couch to meet Alfred at the door.

"How come you say her name first," Peter whined from the kitchen as Alfred laughed while flinging his shoes onto the welcome mat.

"Welcome home Alfie," she greeted him happily. "How was work?"

"Absolutely horrible," he replied jokingly. "But it's all better knowing that I get to come home to the two best people in all the world!" He pulled her into a bear hug causing her to squeal and laugh as she tried to escape.

Life was perfect. Or at least it would have been if that hole in her heart wasn't so pressing. Despite the wonderful place she was in right now she felt she still needed some sort of closure. Something that just ended everything between her and Freddy. Even a goodbye would do. Just something to get him out of her mind.

She was quiet during dinner that night and Peter and Alfred had learned that this just meant she was deep inside her own head. How could a person get in contact with Freddy? There wasn't a way was there? No. That was like forcing yourself to see a shark in dark murky waters. You could pretend to see something moving all you want but you'll only ever see the shark when _it_ decides to come see you. And at that point you have even less of a choice left; before you could have swam away or not gone into the water at all. But now all you can do is watch it circle and hope it either swims away or makes the kill quick. She was a fool; a person who wanted desperately to find the long lost Megalodon deep within the murky waters.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she fell sat roughly on the hardwood living room floor and stared longingly at the ceiling. Closure was hard enough without involving ghostly figures in the mix.

"Need something to do Evelyn?"

Peter startled her out of her daze causing her face to flush in embarrassment before she childishly stuck her tongue out at him. "Of course not. You're 'something to do' probably requires work."

"Not much. I was just wondering if you would take out the recycling for me. I've been asking Alfred to do it for quite a while now."

"But Peter..." Evelyn whined pathetically as she looked at him with a pouting lip.

Fully prepared for the assault of cute Peter's own lip puckered out and he watered his eyes as he knelt down and snuggled up to her. "Pleeease Evey? For me?"

Evelyn smiled and sighed. "How can I say no to the pretty face that makes my brother so happy?"

When she thought about it she really didn't mind going out and doing this chore for Peter. It helped to keep her mind occupied. Today was just one of those days where her memories seemed to overpower her present.

The bags of newspapers and milk cartons felt so much heavier than they should as she dragged them to their respective containers in the alley just a block down the street.

She lifted the lid to toss the newspapers in when a noise across the street caught her attention. It was just a couple of children. They were jumping rope; a young girl with her best friend and little brother who looked very unhappy swinging the rope for her. They must have lived in apartments over there. As she watched the rope spin round and round she found herself starting to get lost in thought again as she held back the tears that pulled at her eyes without reason.

_"One,Two, Freddy's coming for you._

_Three, Four, Better lock your door._

_Five, Six, Grab your crucifix._

_Seven, Eight, Better stay awake._

_Nine, Ten, Never sleep again."_

_

* * *

_

_I always thought of that little rhyme when my mind became clouded...I don't know why it made me feel better. The wind had picked up after that throwing out all the newspapers. I had felt horrible. But the strangest thing happened. As they were flying around I was able to read some of them; story titles that had been hidden deep within the pages and see some of the pictures I had missed before. People had been dying left and right around here. Most had committed 'suicide', some attacked by animals and others died in their sleep. And in every last picture she could see his 'signature' right across their faces. The thing that made me laugh and cry the most was the faces; I had known every last one of them. Each person who had been murdered had done something to hurt me in some way. He was still watching me even if he wasn't here._

Kelly had fallen asleep holding the diary in her boney fingers; her sleep was fitful and disturbing as she rolled back and forth. She was so tired from the painkillers they were pumping into her that she never heard the gentle footsteps of the high fashion dress shoes press delicately to the floor.

Alfred pressed his back against the door as he took one last look down the hallway for any of the security guards before sliding into the room.

Kelly had been right about one thing; this whole situation was his fault. If he hadn't mistaken that diary for Evelyn's normal one then he never would've given it to Kelly and this whole mess wouldn't have started. And so it was his responsibility to fix it all.

He had promised his sister that he'd take care of Kelly and make sure that she lived a full life. That was the one thing Evelyn had never told anyone but him and Brie that she regretted. She had spent so much time letting fear dictate her life that she never experienced half the things she had wanted to before she died. He snuck up to her bed and whispered a small prayer before pulling the book from her hands. And then he ran. He ran as fast as his feet could carry him. He wove nimbly through the hallways dodging between abandoned carts and leaping into small hiding places away from the glow of flashlights coming to investigate any noise he made. It didn't take long before he reached the large doors he had snuck in through. They were usually automatic so when they didn't open most people just assumed closed and left which was the whole scheme. He knew better. He knew that due to the fact that someone could show up at any hour of the night begging for help the doors were never locked. He pushed his way through them to run into the parking lot where a large silver minivan was still running with his headlights turned off. The minute he flagged it down the lights sprang on and it peeled towards him.

He flung open the passenger door and fell into his seat with a heavy sigh. "Oh dear that was nerve racking," he laughed out as his nails dug into the small book in his pocket.

"But did you get it?"

He smiled and pulled the book out so he could brandish it to the driver. "Right here. You know where to go from here?"

"I had a...different idea."

"What was that?"

"I want to go back to Springwood. And we'll burn it there. Back where this all began, and then maybe we could stop of at Evelyn's grave and let her know everything's going to be okay."

Alfred leaned back and smiled to himself as he buckled up. "Yes, I think she would like that. Knowing that it's all going to be alright I mean."

Brie smiled at him as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Then let's see how much distance we can get between us and Kelly before morning comes."

* * *

Years came and went in Evelyn's life before finally settling in 1988. She had graduated university and never did anything with her degree except brandish it to her parents before losing it somewhere in her room. Without realising it she had become a permanent addiction to Peter and Alfred's family but the two never complained. They were a happy loving family; the kind she had always dreamed about growing up with.

A psychologist had told her that that was where her problem had grown from. She had gone to see one regularly for about a year when Alfred had asked her to and he ended up making a lot of sense. He had explained to Evelyn that she only grown so attached to this figure because he gave her something that she had never received before. He had protected her, paid attention to her, and constantly been there in her life. She needed these things because her parents had done none of them. When she would mention the fact that he was a killer and psycho the man would just shake his head at her and smile and tell her that it didn't matter what Freddy was the only significant part was what he had done for her. This doctor, of course, thought that Evelyn was describing a sequence of dreams to him but the message was still very much the same and she felt more at ease. There had been nothing wrong with her for being drawn to Freddy as it wasn't her fault it was her parents. When she pressed the issue of him being a psycho again the doctor finally decided that it was something subconscious. Liking a killer would be wrong; her parents made her feel like a proper family was wrong. That was all it was. It was interesting to hear all this and part of it she believed but most of it she thought was a load of crap. Common sense didn't mean much to her after her dorm experience. Still even though she knew Freddy was out there somewhere she found herself thinking of him less and less frequently until she almost forgot about him entirely. She had started to live 'normally'.

Of course, a normal life can only last so long. Even yours or mine; routine can only occur so long before something unexpected happens. This event in Evelyn's life took place on one of Alfred and Peter's date nights. Peter had surprised Alfred with dinner at his favourite restaurant and tickets to a new movie. Alfred was a sucker for cute clichés like dinner and a movie; Evelyn had joked that they should go for a long walk on the beach afterwards. However she was excited to have the place to herself that night. Without work to worry about the next day she could do whatever she felt like. And she felt like cleaning.

It was a silly thing but she had been meaning to clean for so long now and the guys never got around to it so she figured it would be a great surprise for them to come home to. Humming a song she had heard on one of Alfred's brand new CD's she made her way to the closet to retrieve the vacuum cleaner and dusting supplies. Evelyn tugged on the small chain hanging from the light bulb in the ceiling so that she could actually find anything in her brother's mess. She frowned when it refused to flick on and began to fumble her hand around in the back of the closest knowing that the machine she was searching for should be propped up somewhere. That's when she felt something strong and leathery curl slowly around her wrist and her heart dropped as her face paled.

She hadn't even had time to scream as she pulled suddenly into the mess only to be surrounded by darkness and the smell of something burning. Whatever had her wrist finally let go allowing her to stumble forward on her own in confusion into a far too easily forgotten setting.

"No...no..." she breathed as she turned around faster and faster. A red glow cloaked her body and tainted her white turtleneck blood red. "Seriously?" Her cry echoed through the taunting boiler room and she was met with a familiar harsh cackle. "Did you think I would just disappear and leave you alone Evelyn? You still owe me a favor."

She stood there for a moment and let the words sink in. No. There wasn't a fibre of her body that truly believed that he had just disappeared. It had just been something nice to imagine for awhile; a thought that had let her live normally with her brother for awhile.

"No...not even a little Freddy."

The minute she said his name the maimed figure appeared in front of her brandishing his claws for her. He looked the same as he had all those years ago. "Evelyn, long time no see." He punctuated his words by tapping a claw on the metal wall as his gaze bore into hers. "How've you been?"

If he was still the same Freddy she had known then she knew he wouldn't put up with any bullshit and that he didn't like to have to repeat himself. "Good. I'm living with my brother now; him and Peter take good care of me. Life is...good."

He nodded as if taking the information in but somehow she knew it was only a pleasantry; he was working his way up to something. "Does he take better care you than I do?"

That question was a test and it was a rigged one but Evelyn felt like she could use it to her advantage as well and get some answers from him at the same time. "He didn't abandon me like you did. Did you leave because I hugged you? It was an accident you know." She wished that she could have been more tactful but at the same time she doubted that it would have mattered if she had been.

He laughed at her and she could almost feel the sound vibrate through the air and taint her to her very core. "Of course it was. Maybe it hurt my feelings that something scared you more than I did. Maybe that's why I left."

She watched him curiously as he stepped closer to her seeming to contemplate the question. "But it's not," she finished for him.

He walked past her and she turned to watch him only to find that he had once again disappeared. He continued to talk at her regardless. "No it's not. I just had other things to deal with. Met with a young boy, and went to see Nancy again. She was let out; it would have been rude of me not to go say hi."

She let out a scream as his claws pierced through her stomach and she looked down to see the blood covered knives protruding through her shirt. "And don't be a little bitch now Evelyn, you know damn well I didn't abandon you." He ripped his hand out of her stomach and watched her fall to the ground in agony. "I know you saw those news stories. I've been taking care of all those little bastards that entered your life even though I was a very busy nightmare. Just like I said I would." She felt her wounds sewing themselves back together as he yanked her to her feet. "What's the matter? Did you miss me?"

She gasped for air unsure of what the right answer would be before decided that he probably already knew the truth. "A little... yes I did."

"Of course you did," he hissed back. "But don't be wrong Evelyn, that's a good thing. It'll make everything a lot easier." He hadn't yet let go of her and she eyed him warily waiting for him to continue. "I told you I've come back for my favour Evelyn."

The words struck her and her breath caught in her throat. She had completely forgotten that his protection came with a price. Her life, she decided. He would probably take her life.

"What do you want from me?"

"You know, when I made this deal with you years ago I asked the same question. You were just one more pathetic girl trapped in the tragedies that occur every day. But you were an Elm Street child. You were MY little tragedy. And now I know what I need from you."

"What's that Freddy? What is it that I can give you..."

He finally let her go so that he could wander around deciding that he needed a story to go with his demand. "Did you know I can be killed Evelyn?"

"What?" She had had no idea. She just figured he was already dead and there was nothing to be done. "How can you be killed?"

The words left her before she could stop them but he only laughed. "I wouldn't tell you my dear, it's my little secret." He snarled; but the fury wasn't directed towards her. "A little secret that some persistent little pests have come terribly close to figuring out. And I don't want to take the chance that one of these days they'll get it right."

She watched and waited for him to keep talking knowing that interrupting him right now could be deadly.

"You're going to keep me alive Evelyn." And that's when he looked at her and she felt like she could see him for the first time. There were no smirks, grins, or grimaces on his face this time. He stood there looking at her with his clawed hand hidden behind his body with a purely serious expression on his face.

"... what do you want me to do?" Her voice was small and timid as she felt that if she spoke any louder something might break.

His voice was calm and serious now. "You're going to take care of a piece of my soul. That way even if I'm killed I can still come back. As long as some part of me exists in this world I can always come back."

Evelyn scoffed without meaning to. "And how exactly do you expect me to that Freddy? I don't think I can just stick your toenail clippings in my pocket and we'd be good to go."

That's when that devilish smirk pulled its way across his charred lips once more.

* * *

Alfred's fingernails grazed the cover of Evelyn's diary again and Brie placed her hand on his shoulder momentarily to comfort him.

"It'll be alright Alfred. We're doing a good thing here."

"I know. I just hope we weren't too late."

"We weren't. If we had been she wouldn't have been sleeping at all."

He nodded his head slowly. "I suppose you're right. In that case I'm glad we got there when we did. If Kelly knew that she was just a vessel for Freddy's soul...it might kill her."

* * *

**Author's Note: SMUT? ** Alright added subnote here. I've had a couple people message me and ask if there's going to be a sex scene in the next chapter like a detailed one. I wasn't planning on smutting this up but what do you guys think? Yay or nay? Like I said I wasn't planning on it but it seems like that's what the general reader is wanting. Let me know! Please review or pm so I know you liked this chapter andlet me know your thoughts!


	12. Chapter 12

Wow jsut short of a month for another update! Sorry again for the wait. I hope you enjoy!

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**Chapter 12**

Freddy walked towards Evelyn carefully despite the calculating look on his face. It sent a terrible feeling through her because she knew that once again she was trapped. Only this time she could tell that he was trying terribly hard not to spook her. It was almost touching. Almost.

"See Evelyn that's the trick is you could. You could take any part of me right now and as long as you kept it safe then it wouldn't matter." He momentarily considered a small speck of dirt on his claws in a rude attempt to create more tension for her. "But you see darling, I don't trust you enough for that. I think you'd use it against me. Threaten to destroy it to get your selfish nasty little way or perhaps just destroy it when I do something you don't like."

Evelyn nearly cursed him as he practically narrated the little plan that she had formulated. "Then what exactly are you thinking, Fredrick?" She glared at him as she bit out his proper first name feeling almost insulted by his lack of trust.

He strode over to her and used a single claw to tilt her chin up as if he were inspecting her and she frowned at the awkward angle. "I can promise you that if I didn't need you I would cut your throat for that," he snapped referring to her use of his name.

She remained silent as she felt the claw press dangerously to that soft spot on her throat but waited for him to answer the question. When he simply stared at her with those cold green eyes she felt herself start to feel uneasy and she shifted slightly in hopes on easing her antsy feeling. Something in his gaze made her feel uncomfortable and she wished to all hell that he had eyelids so he could blink and break the stare even just for a second.

"What are you thinking Freddy," she repeated quietly as she continued to stare at him.

A small smirk broke his faded lips and he dragged the blade down her neck to slide it between her breasts before lightly pressing against her belly. A thin trail of blood followed obediently as she flinched slightly at the sting as her skin split.

Finally he decided to answer her. "Here's how I see it darlin'. Out of everything in this whole hell hole there's only _one_ thing I can think of that you would always protect and never harm or lose." His grin broadened as he poked her stomach for emphasis.

Her eyes widened in horror as she swatted her hand and began to back away. "No...please Freddy you can't," she begged as she clutched at herself in a futile attempt to disappear behind her own hands. "Please Freddy,I promise...I promise I'll take care of whatever you give me. Please, you can't!"

"See, now that's where you're wrong." He held out his hand and snapped it towards him in a beckoning gesture. Evelyn let out a yelp as she slid across the floor directly into his waiting grasp. She had almost forgotten that this was all a nightmare that she really had no control over. "I can and I will whether you like it or not." He let out a laugh that sent terrifying chills down her spine before his familiar smirk returned. "So you might as well like it."

With those words he yanked his claw through her belt severing it with ease and tears spilled from her eyes. He roughly pinched her chin and pulled her face towards his. His tongue rolled from his mouth and pulled the tears from her cheeks before turning her face to him entirely. "Either way I'm going to make you scream."

* * *

"You know how you can tell Brie?" Alfred looked over at the small woman in his attempt to make small conversation despite the awkward topic. "It's in her eyes."

Brie tilted her head in thought though her eyes remained glued to the blackened road. "I never thought about it like that before. I had just...always gotten this feeling around Kelly. That spine chill, you know?"

"I do," he answered sadly. "I know it because I got that feeling whenever she looked up at me. No matter how bright her little smile was it could never drown out the tortured soul that I could practically hear screaming through her eyes. It was so tough...because she looks exactly like Evelyn and I want to protect her but then I see those eyes..."

Most people in their lifetime had heard the term "the eyes are the window to your soul." For most people this just meant that their sadness could still be seen even if they were pretending to be happy. However for Kelly this meant something entirely different. For her entire life Alfred had watched her and wondered whether or not there was even a Kelly in there or if that nightmare had made her his new home.

Freddy.

The name terrified him more than he could say. He had met the demon only once and had gotten the answer to that question. Alfred had gone around and asked too many questions and Freddy had arrived only to shut him up. Luckily Evelyn had shown up or their meeting would have ended with much more of his blood spilled.

It had been a Thursday morning when Evelyn had walked downstairs looking dishevelled and disturbed and announced that she was planning on leaving the house. Alfred hadn't noticed it at the time but later he had realised that the entire time she had spoken to him her hands had been pressed to her stomach. When he had overheard her start to talk to herself about someone named Freddy he had started to investigate only to come face to face with the demon in question. Freddy had come to silence him and Alfred had no doubt that he would have had Evelyn not shown up. He still wasn't sure of whether it had been a dream or reality if his sister had been able to become a part of it.

* * *

"You should've kept your nose out of other people's business," Freddy hissed as he ripped his claws from Alfred's stomach.

Alfred gasped as blood trickled down his lips and fell to his knees. He grasped at his stomach as if he could keep the blood in and his shoulders heaved with the effort it took to breathe.

"Alfred!" The cry struck both men and they turned to find the distressed woman standing in the open doorway as rain poured down behind her.

Evelyn rushed to Alfred's side before looking up at Freddy with malice dripping in her eyes. "What do you think you're doing Freddy?"

"Stopping in for a visit," Freddy explained simply. "And taking care of a little something first. Business before pleasure you know."

"You know that's not what I meant," she snapped back.

"I won't let him ruin things. This is none of his business yet he won't stay out of it."

"Leave him alone Freddy," she growled at him.

Her words bit the dust as a knowing look came to his face; she had no power against him. Without a second thought she stormed over to the closet. "Leave him alone Freddy, she repeated as calmly as she could

"You know I can't do that Evelyn," he told her as he walked menacingly towards Alfred to finish the job.

"You will do it Freddy." She spun around and shook the pants from the coat hanger that was now in her hand. "Or I swear I'll..."

"No!" Freddy couldn't stop the word from slipping out. She wasn't supposed to be able to do that! That was the whole point of putting his soul there was so she wouldn't hurt it, lose it, or black mail him with it. "We both know you don't have the heart Evelyn," he tried as he composed himself.

"Try me," she threatened as she straightened the hanger for emphasis. She knew that she had him.

His claws nearly recoiled as he snatched his hand away from the wounded Alfred. In return she aimed the coat hanger away from her body as she stared him down. Grey met green in a clash and Alfred could almost feel the air thicken with something he would never be able to name. It wasn't long before the feeling of it seemed to choke him and he finally blacked out collapsing completely against the floor.

Evelyn looked at her brother before calmly stating the need for an ambulance and making the call for one. All the while Freddy stood there watching her with his cold gaze before she finally turned to face him. She let her coat hanger drop to the floor in order to show her submission to him.

"Freddy," she began quietly as she approached him. "What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was soft and strong just the way he loved it. It felt the same way to him as honey would to most people. The only time it was better was when it was coated with her screams. "You shouldn't be here. And if you're trying to convince me to protect your soul you're doing a really shitty job of it."

He never answered him and instead watched as she slowly approached him and he nearly let a small chuckle escape. It was interesting how intimidating she was trying to be but he could easily sense her unease through her movement.

"Freddy, I am telling you right now that if you want me to take care of this thing, keep safe and all that shit, then you will leave me alone." Her words were stern and if he could have raised an eyebrow at her he would have. She was serious.

"Leave you alone? You expect me to simply trust you to do this job?" His grin turned dangerous as he closed whatever distance was left between them. "I don't think so Evelyn. This isn't going to be that easy."

"Yeah, because it's been such a fucking walk in the park so far," she snapped back. "This whole situation has just been oozing rainbows and butterflies out it's ass!" Her sarcasm could've burned a whole in the floor as her gaze attempted to burn away more of the man before her.

"My dear you sound a little upset, was it something I did?" As he finished his words he stuck his tongue out at the brunette and curled it around devilishly.

* * *

It was after that that Alfred had finally confronted Evelyn and gotten the answers that he desired. She had told him everything and despite the threat of Freddy he swore to help her through the whole thing.

As it turned out Freddy had stayed away. He had done just what Evelyn had asked of him. This whole idea had perplexed Alfred for the rest of his life. He had never been able to bring his mind to understand why. What puzzled him even more was the concept of the relationship between Freddy and Evelyn.

At first he had thought it was a simple matter of terror; somewhat like an abusive relationship. But the more time he spent around Evelyn after that the more he questioned it. Despite Evelyn's earnest fear of him and Freddy's obvious love for terrorizing her there was something more between the two of them. Something both strange and special. It was like no matter how much they hated each other there was still a warm connection there. Alfred had found himself witness to it on more than one occasion but had found himself caught in the middle of it the Christmas only two month into Evelyn's...'ordeal'.

* * *

"Hey Eve?" Alfred knocked heavily on his sister's door not wanting to surprise her. "Can I come in?"

"Sure Alfie," she called through the door. He had managed to convince her to continue to stay with them after he had gotten out of the hospital. She had been horrified by the idea at first but he had managed to convince her that Freddy wouldn't hurt him or Peter because if he had really wanted them dead he would have finished the job already.

"You're wrapping presents now? It's Christmas Eve Evelyn, it's a little late for that."

She looked up at him from her seat on the floor and shrugged. "I just bought it yesterday," she explained calmly.

He went quiet before kneeling down beside her and smiling. "It's a nice rock Evelyn. Hope it's not for me."

She frowned at him childishly and shook her head. "Don't be such a bum Alf of course it's not for you. And it's not a _rock_."

"Looks like a rock," he laughed earning him a smack from his sister.

"Fine, if you're going to be that way I'm not going to tell you what it is or who it's for." She stuck her tongue out at him as she finished putting the last piece of tape on to hold the bright red paper in place around the perfectly rectangular rock. "Now out so I can wrap your presents."

"You still haven't done that? And you said I could come in!"

"No I haven't, and that was before you started being annoying. Now out!"

He laughed but his smile fell short as he saw the gift tag she placed on the small present before the door closed behind him.

xxxxxxx

"What's this?" The voice startled Evelyn from her sleep nearly causing her to fall out of bed. However she knew she wasn't fully awake when she saw that beyond her door was a swirling darkness that threatened to swallow her. That and the ominous burnt man that stood by her beside looking furious as he held a small red box in his unclawed hand.

"A present Freddy. You do know it's Christmas don't you?" Her words were groggy and nearly mumbled and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

He nearly growled as her threw it down onto the bed. "What. Is. It," he hissed out.

Her eyes narrowed at him as she sighed. "IT...is for you." She sat up and yawned heavily as he continued to glare at her. "It is Christmas after all." When his glare continued to bore into her she finally snapped. "Look I didn't plan to get you one or anything I just did okay. Don't think too much into it it's just a stupid present. Take it or leave it, I don't care." She violently rolled over into her bed and slammed the covers around herself knocking his present onto the floor with a loud thud. Secretly she did care; she cared a lot more than she really wanted to admit to herself. And the fact that she cared even a little disturbed her on numerous levels.

Silence coated the room as nothing moved or almost dared to breathe and Evelyn could feel the growing darkness pressing against her as Freddy moved around without words. Her hands fisted around the blankets in fury and as he she finally heard him take a breath and the sound of crinkling paper met her.

"Evelyn..."

"It's not a rock it's a sharpening stone," she said rudely as she cut him off.

A sharp cold breath shot through her as her eyes flew upon and Evelyn found herself awake and alone in her room once more.

* * *

"You remember what he got her in return?" Alfred nearly laughed as he uttered the words. As if it had truly been an exchange of Christmas presents. But somehow he knew that to his sister and that demon it had been.

Brie nodded her head though she kept her eyes on the highway. "The house. I remember it. Something about all the potential buyers kept having nightmares about it until your parents just gave it to her so they could move to their new home." Brie hesitated in thought for a moment before turning her head slightly towards Alfred. "Kelly...she never met Freddy right?"

He shook his head. "No, Evelyn wouldn't allow it."

The drive remained silent for a bit as both people remained deep in thought. Evelyn had turned into an enigma after awhile and sometimes Alfred found himself unable to piece her together. What kept him hanging on was the moments where he would catch glimpses of the sweet innocent sister he had come to know and love. It was almost as if she were putting up a front until she was sure Freddy wasn't watching and then she would break down. He stayed by her because he didn't want her to be alone through this experience that most people couldn't even imagine.

He thought of something she had said to him once when he had mentioned the Christmas present.

"_I was very naive Alfred. It was strange but it was almost like I had wanted this 'thing' to be a normal relationship. That was wishful thinking of me. If this even can be called a relationship then there is nothing normal about it. I've finally come to terms with that; that there's nothing normal about my life anymore. So don't worry about me Alfred...I've become strong. Despite everything I have...and I won't try anything like that anymore. Instead I'm just going to be the best mother I can be. It's all I can do now..."_

Before he could stop himself he had started crying and he buried his face as deep as he could into his hands as if he could hide away in them. Brie pulled the vehicle to a stop and placed a comforting hand on her friends back.

"Alfred...it's okay. It's almost over. We're almost there." She patted his back gently. "You called the psychologist for Kelly so she'll be fine and we're going to destroy the diary. Just a little longer Alfred."

"I know, I know," he sobbed. "I just don't understand so much. I'm her brother, I loved her, I should know her inside and outside." The sobs shook his whole body and Brie gave him the best hug she could in an attempt to calm him. "But I don't. I don't know what she felt or thought about any of this. If I did then I'd know why she killed herself!"

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Oooh another cliff hanger! Hate me all you want! Happy Holidays to everyone! Oh and if you're wondering why there was no naughty bits despite the majority wanting a smut scene one of my readers sent me a very compelling pm that got me thinking and I realised that they were right. A smut scene would ruin the concept of their relationship at least for the purpose of the story. perhaps when all is said and done I may upload a one shot but until that time I decided it was better to keep it clean for the sake of the story. Thank you!


	13. Chapter 13

_And just like that our tale comes to a close. Sorry for taking so long but I wanted this to be perfect. It's about 6000 words long and I really like how it turned out. I hope you all do to! And very ironic that it should end on the unluckiest of numbers. Please review and tell me how you enjoyed the series! Adieu! -The Last Element_

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**Final Chapter - Chapter 13**

Scraps of smouldering black paper still breathing with orange edges drifted through the sky before the smoky air swept them up again and carried them safely into the drifting water. More and more pieces carefully followed suite and clung to the surface of the water waiting for their brethren pieces to join them. A large rock landed in the steadily growing pile sinking some pieces and creating ripples that pushed whatever was left away from each other. Like star-crossed lovers the pieces attempted to ride the waves back together but another well aimed stone saw to it that they never met.

Alfred yelped as the flames licked at the tips of his fingers and he dropped the last of the book into the water where it fizzled and sank to the bottom.

"So...I guess that's it huh," Brie stated solemnly as she dropped her rock and glanced over to Alfred.

The emotions plastered to his face were unreadable as he stared at the blackened river waters. "I guess it is. Well the end of that anyway..."

"It won't ever really be over will it?"

She gently slid her hand into his and he grasped in reassuringly before pulling her close to him in a tight embrace. "No, but at least we can pretend for a bit. And live normally for a while."

They walked away from the scene ignoring the strange looks that the other patrons in the area were giving them. The two carried on their way towards the vehicle ignoring the small cynical voice that attempted to nag them into guilt and doubts.

"Did you ever think that perhaps she wrote that diary for a reason," it demanded of them.

But they passed through its words as smoothly as if they were smoke. The thought attempted to burn at their ears but deaf with a false justice they never heard it. It was almost like a war; despite the reasonable cries that raged from the other side war was about conquering. All that mattered was being the last one standing having trampled whatever was left of your opponents into the blood stained ground of the claimed or defended land.

As they walked away the wind whistled through the trees and across the top of the water in a futile attempt to pull what was left of the pages back together. Had Evelyn been able to see the events of these lives unfolding she would have cried more than she ever had before.

After the burning of the diary there was still one loose end to tie up and Alfred had spent a fortune making sure it was going to be taken care of. Searching far and wide he had managed to find a pleasantly aged Chris Pratt. The man had switched professions many a year ago and hadn't been too keen to take up the case. But after a large sum of money had been offered and much pleading Chris had finally agreed to accept it. He made the long trip to Alfred's home where the blonde had said he could stay for as long as he needed to free of expenses.

"She's gone over the edge," Alfred had explained to the once doctor. "She read that diary of her mothers and is convinced that everything written in it was real. I've tried telling her that it's all nonsense but she just won't hear it. The poor dear is in the hospital because she just went loopy! But she knows your name Dr. Pratt and I think if it's you she hears it from she might just listen. She might finally begin to hear reason."

It seemed like a sound enough idea but whether or not it would actually have any merit had yet to be tested. Chris Pratt was a man with a good heart and would've done the job without a second thought had Alfred not also made one more demand of him. Alfred had asked him to persuade Kelly into believing that Evelyn was crazy and moving on with her life using whatever means possible. Not to just accept and live with the knowledge of the events she had discovered but to make Kelly think none of it had ever happened. This included lies and trickery; and this is what had cost Alfred so much money. It also cost Chris his integrity but with his wife out of work and their eldest son preparing for university an offer of money had been very promising.

No matter what anyone believed every human had their price. Most men just like to hide their price with a name; it makes them feel less dirty on the inside when they do sell out. Like Chemotherapy or Surgery, and even more often than naught Family. But whatever a person chooses to call it it is still dirty and tainted and will never be anything otherwise.

With his guilt stained hands Chris carried a brand new clipboard to the hospital where Kelly was being detained. Alfred had made a few necessary calls to ensure that she wouldn't be released until both himself and Chris had verified that her condition was stable enough that she could be let back out without having a breakdown.

"Kelly?"

Chris knocked on the door before slowly opening it to find the dishevelled girl inside staring at him with cold unfeeling eyes. Alfred had been right; this girl was merely a shell of her former self. She certainly didn't share her mother's spirit. If there was one thing he could say for Evelyn it was that no matter what twisted thoughts ran through her or whatever obstacles she thought had her blocked in she had never lost face. Perhaps behind closed doors she had broken down many times but for everyone around her she had always put on quite the show.

"Good morning Kelly I'm Doctor Pratt."

She tilted her head curiously at him before looking away. "Is my usual Doctor sick today or something?" Her words were dry and tasteless.

"Oh not at all, he's just fine. I'm a different kind of doctor. A psychiatrist. I saw your name come up in the medical files and thought I might be able to help."

"But that would mean I'm mental," she cried out as she turned to him with wild untamed eyes.

"Not at all Kelly. You see, I think you've been through a lot lately and I called your family and they said that a lot of what you're going through has to do with your mother. As I worked on her case I'm hoping to shed some light on yours." He punctuated his words with a casual smile much like the ones he used to give Evelyn to try and put her at ease. Unlike her mother Kelly went for it like honey.

She instantly relaxed around him and then a flicker of life shot behind her eyes. "You...you're Chris?"

"Yes I am," he replied calmly as he took a seat on the poorly crafted chair in the corner of the room.

"This is perfect!" Her manner had pulled a complete 180 as she flung herself into an eager sitting position and stared at the doctor with a glowing grin. "You can prove to everyone that I'm not crazy and neither was my mother and get these people to let me out of here!"

"Now now Kelly one step at a time." He smiled again. "I'm sure that we'll both have the same conclusion but I do have the protocol I must follow. You know, typical questions and follow ups."

"Oh yes of course," she replied as she leaned back and settled into her propped up pillows. "Well ask away Chris!"

"Alright." He flipped through a few papers as if searching for a specific one. "So I remember reading that you're here in the first place because you fell out of a four story window. Would you mind telling me more about that?" He never once looked up from his papers.

"Oh this boy, he had stolen something of mine. It was really important to me and it was the only way I could think to get it back."

"Of course," he answer calmly still sifting through his papers. "And what was this item?"

"My mother's diary! She died a while ago and I wanted to see what she'd wrote."

Chris fumbled a little with his papers; Alfred hadn't told him that. His heart fell to think of the woman dead. She had had so much potential in her. He found his composure again as well as his paper. "If you don't mind my asking why didn't you just ask your father any questions you had?"

"I've...never met him." Her face fell once more. "That's what I was hoping to learn about. I never even knew his name."

If Chris could've damned Alfred's name aloud at that moment he certainly would have numerous times. He was sure that her Uncle did indeed have his reasons though and damned be him as well if he continued on without finding out what they were. He glanced down at his pocket and pulled out his cellphone as if he had seen it lit up and pretended to read the screen.

"Oh goodness Kelly, I'm very sorry but this is a very important call I'll be back in just a second I promise."

"Oh course." She had nothing but complete and utter trust in him and it hurt him even more as he hurried out of the room and dialled Alfred's number. After a couple of agonizingly long rings he finally heard to other man's voice chime with a friendly hello.

"I'm not going to continue," Chris started out sternly knowing that Alfred would recognize who he was. "Not until you tell me the whole story. Kelly just told me that Evelyn had died and she was looking through that diary for evidence of her father."

There was a thoughtful silence on Alfred's end as he tried to think of the proper way to put his words together. "I can promise you that you won't like it."

"And why's that?"

"Because it'll mean that if you'd actually listened to Evelyn all those years ago you might have been able to help her."

"What are you talking about," Chris demanded as he shot a glance back towards where Kelly was keenly waiting for his return.

"I know very well what Kelly is looking for in there and she already found too much. Her father was never around when she was growing up and before that he practically tortured Evelyn. Perhaps you might remember the name Freddy."

Chris's heart stopped in his throat and his eyes fell to the floor. Of course he remembered, he'd never forgotten that name. It was the man that Evelyn had always said haunted her nightmares and the one that she had confided in him at one point in time had killed those people. He had never believed her.

"Kelly is looking for information on him, a way to find him. I met the bastard once and I'll be damned if I'll let him do the same thing to Kelly that he did to Evelyn. Now please..."

"Yes of course," Chris said awkwardly as he hung up the phone and went back in to meet with his patient. The minute he was through that door the smile was once again plastered on his features as his eyes met Kelly's.

"Sorry about the interruption Kelly."

"Oh that's no problem, I'd wait forever! I'm so glad that you're finally here!"

The look of pure hope of her face burned him to the core. "Kelly, I have another question for you." He reached into his bag of props that Alfred had provided him with and pulled out a small age withered book. "Is this by any chance the diary you're speaking of?"

"You brought it back!" With the look of a starving animal she lunged out of the bed at him ignoring the pain that racked through her and snatched the book hungrily from his hands. She opened it eagerly and suddenly her look fell away and confusion furrowed her brow. "This doesn't make any sense. This can't be mom's diary Chris." She looked at him with all the naive innocence of a child. "There's nothing written in it."

"No Kelly I can assure you that is indeed Evelyn's diary."

"No it's not!" she screamed at him with fury laced throughout her tone. "I was reading my mother's diary! You can't just read nothing!"

"Kelly, please here me out he ushered her. I'm not here to put you in a frenzy merely to put things straight. You were reading nothing. This is the exact diary that you spoke of."

"No you're wrong!" She hurled the diary at him with a poor arm and it missed his pale face by a good couple feet. "I know what I read! How else would I know your name?"

"Kelly please, I need you to be reasonable," Chris tried as he knew she wouldn't accept anything he could offer her while in such a state of mine. "Please just hear me out."

She clenched her fists but stared at him allowing him to continue on but silently warning him that what he had to say had better be good.

"Death is a complicated thing. The terms of it differ for each person..." The words fell from his lips as easily as they had when he said them to Evelyn. He even hesitated after the sentence expecting the young girl to interrupt him with a snide remark just as her mother had. "I think that your mother's death hit you harder than expected and that you haven't found your own terms of it yet. You see...you've been generating a false life for yourself for the past few months. Substituting what you didn't want to hear with what you did in order to keep your mother in your life."

"How?" she demanded. "Everything I've been reading from my mother's diary! Uncle Alfred gave it to me when I left for university."

"Kelly...I want you to tell me exactly how you remember that day."

"I was getting into the vehicle with my boyfriend...ex I guess. Alfred came to the window and gave me that diary. He said that it was under her mattress and that if Mom had wanted anyone to read it she would've wanted it to be me."

"Kelly. I can promise you with every fibre of my being that that is the diary that Alfred handing you that day. Now I'm going to give it back to you and I want you to do me a favour." He stood up and pulled the book from its resting place on the floor to hand it to the girl. "I want you to read whatever you can find in there out loud to me."

She frowned at him but decided to comply with the request anyway. She lazily flipped through the pages until she stumbled upon one page just inside the cover with a small note written on it.

"Happy Birthday Kelly...I hope another year brings a wonderful daughter like you many wonderful memories. I hope you'll write all of them down so you can share them with someone special one day. Love forever and always...Mom..."

Kelly's eyes watered and she looked up at Chris with an aghast look plastered to her face. "This can't be...this is impossible! I swear I was...I was reading her diary!"

"Kelly, like I said before people deal with the deaths of loved ones in different ways. From what I remember of Evelyn and can understand from Alfred and Peter she was and has always been a very private person. It wouldn't surprise me if there were things you didn't know about her life. I think in your grief you're wishing that you had known her better and your mind is starting to create a story for her that was never real."

It took a moment for his words to sink in before she slowly forced a few choice words to stumble out of her mouth. "That still...doesn't answer the question of how I could possibly know of you."

"Alfred told you," he answered swiftly. "On his last visit before you had him removed from the room. He told you that he was getting you some help. I believe he tried to use my name to put you more at ease."

She slumped back into her pillows and tilted her head to stare up to the ceiling with a look of distraught contemplation. "I think...I need to think about this." Her voice was soft and sad.

"Of course Kelly, I understand. This must be a lot to take in all at once and I certainly don't expect you to believe me right now." Flashing her another friendly smile he handed her the clipboard and pen he had yet to use. "How about I visit you sometime tomorrow afternoon? You can write down any questions that you think of."

"Alright..."

He couldn't lift his eyes from her for moment completely overtaken by the resemblance she held to her mother. Except for those eyes. Those didn't belong to Evelyn at all and yet somehow he believed that the way they looked right now almost lightless they didn't quite belong to the father either. He finally pulled himself away to take his leave of the room and made sure to leave the small book there for her to continue examining.

"Dear Lord," he began as he climbed into his car and hugged the steering wheel close. "I pray that you will forgive me for what I have done here today. I do it with the best intentions of fixing her wounded soul. I beg you will grant me redemption for all that I will do in regards until my mission is complete. Amen."

He was not a religious man but at this moment he felt the act his was committing needed to be forgiven. The diary, of course, was fake. Alfred had made it himself and had even been able to copy Evelyn's handwriting as well as possible. Everything else was just a pure unadulterated lie. Everything he would tell her in the future would be a lie. He could always hope, however, that it would be lies that would in the end be better for everyone.

* * *

Evelyn's eyes started feeling heavier as she scrawled the last few words into her diary and blew on the ink to help it dry faster. The wind caught the words from her breath and carried them away as her head fell slightly before she snapped it up with a motion that should have resulted in a fair case of whiplash. Her half lidded eyes glanced out the window of her bedroom to the front yard where Kelly and Derek were sitting on the small white love seat swing that Derek had crafted almost a year ago. A smile creased the features that had held onto all its youth as she considered her daughter's life and how precious it was. She would miss it dearly. Or perhaps not at all. Another thing only time could tell.

She pulled a paper bag tediously apart before placing the small book inside of it and wrapping it delicately. Her thin fingers pressed tape to the edges and made sure each corner was flattened perfectly before doing so. She brushed a hand along the top of the package wiping away bits of dust that only she could see before she shakily pulled herself to her feet. Her legs wobbled underneath her as she made her way towards the bed humming softly.

"_One,Two, Freddy's coming for you._

_ Three, Four, Better lock your door."_

She knelt beside the bed and slowly tucked the package safely underneath her mattress just enough that the edges of the mattress would be just short of falling together properly. This diary was the most precious thing in the world to her right now; her legacy. In it she had written of all her secret encounters with Freddy and her thoughts of him. Just now she had finished writing her final entry. In it she wrote of why she was doing this. Everything just in case. Just in case this whole plan went terribly wrong she wanted Kelly to know the truth. She wanted Kelly to discover the origins of her birth, learn of Freddy and from there make her own choices on how to proceed. It was all she could give her now.

_ Five, Six, Grab your crucifix._

_ Seven, Eight, Better stay awake._

Evelyn slowly pulled herself to stand with great effort though the bed assisted her to her wobbling legs. It felt as if her whole body weighed a thousand pounds. Her eyes fell to the door as her body swayed back and forth like a pendulum. She crawled on the bed and felt her head weighed heavily between her shoulders as it tried to drag her downwards.

_ Nine, Ten, Never sleep again."_

And just like that the pendulum came to a stop and silenced the song. Evelyn lay face down on the bed her hair falling gently around her thin shoulders. One shoulder had managed to shake itself free of the thing straps holding up the rich pink summer dress she wore. The skirt of it billowed out around her knees while her bare feet stared up with dirty bottoms tainting the background of white that the sheets gave.

The room filled itself with a contaminated silence as deep in the bowels of the house the ticking of a clock slowly echoed up the steps but stopped short of reaching Evelyn and welcoming her back into time again. The sunlight from the window fell inches short of her collapsed form though it illuminated the rest of the room. The walls tilted in around her for a second before pulling themselves away in fear. Nothing could touch her; not without his permission.

"Now now Evelyn why would you go and do something like this? Don't you know it make me sad when you do these things?"

Freddy's feet hit the cold wood floor without so much as a sound as he entered the room from a shadow hiding deep within the closet where no light could ever hope to reach. Evelyn turned her gaze from the window in order to see him better with a look of serenity coating her features. The sun from outside bathed her in its glow and she offered him a small smile in return.

"It was something I needed to do," she replied before looking out the window to watch her daughter a little more. "It's amazing when I think about it now. Kelly...is amazing."

He quietly walked over and looked out the window to see the young woman in the yard her face alight with laughter.

"I know all those years ago I asked you to keep out of it," she said before a small snicker escaped her lips. "Thanks for not listening."

"What the hell are you talking about?", he snapped out furious at having been found out.

"Oh don't get me wrong Freddy," Evelyn instantly replied in defence. "I've never once imagined that you might have taken care of Kelly out of any mortal concern for me or her. I know you only did it because she's got her soul. But still...I think permanently scarring the kid who kept shoving sand down her pants in Kindergarten was a bit much."

She looked up at him and smiled the same way she used to all those years ago; with a pain hidden by strong features and a slight rebellious twitch.

"That' might've been going a bit too far."

A smirk played across his lips though he didn't say anything. They stood there together in silence for a bit just looking out window. Many years had passed between them without so much as a passing glance and it was as if in that short time it was all catching up to them. Evelyn realised years after the fact how very fond she had grown of her nightmare despite everything that had happened. He had been her constant. Even now he was constant; she called for him and he came.

"You never answered my question Evelyn," Freddy stated finally. "You know I don't like to have to repeat myself."

"Because I need to know Freddy." There was now such a desperation in her tone that it choked her words at the back of her throat before letting them move on. "You've spent so much time in and out of my mind and playing with my dreams and thoughts that I'm not sure what's real anymore. I don't where I am anymore..."

He remained silent as he watched her with his calculating gaze.

"You know more about these things than I do Freddy...how much longer will I dream like this before I know?"

"Seven minutes," he replied without hesitating as he'd already spotted the empty pill bottle lying askew on her desk. "That's assuming you to all of them just like a good little girl."

"Every last one," she confirmed. "I called Alfred. I told him what I was doing...just in case...you know? You know, I figure if this is all a dream right now if I die then I should wake up. I should wake up and perhaps be lesser or better for it but I'll be awake."

"Then why call that pathetic little boy? He won't let you die."

"No. That's why I took precautions. I made it difficult enough for him that by the time he gets from his home to here and manages to find a way in I will have just died. But...if I don't wake up...then I'm hoping he'll still get here in time to bring me back." She looked back out the window. "I worry...I want to watch Kelly grow up. But I just can't stand this not knowing. I want to know whether she is real or not..."

"For a price my dear you know I could give you all these answers," he said with a grin as he tapped his claws along her bare shoulder.

"I wouldn't believe you," she answered simply.

Another silence passed between them and his claws remained resting on her shoulder. She found some comfort in the cold feel of them and stale smell she had become so used to over the years. She tilted her head slightly as pressed her cheek to his hand and felt the worn leather against her face.

"Thank you. For letting me stay here. Whether this is dream or not, whatever it is I know you control this part of it. Thank you for letting me stay and watch her."

"I just want to see the look on your face when you see the look on hers as that brother of yours comes running to your rescue and lets the cat out of the bag."

"He won't. I told him...for Kelly's sake to say that he just had a bad feeling. He's always been the kind of person who would act on that. Especially for me."

"For once you seem to have thought of everything," he admitted as he slid his hand away from her shoulder so he could curve one point under her chin and convince her to look up at him. "One last piece. Why call me here?"

"In case this is all just a dream... then I would like to say goodbye."

"How very thoughtful of you," he cackled.

"I don't expect you to understand Freddy, but I am thankful for what you've done for me. Not exactly what you've done to me...but the things you've done for me here." She then reached up and gently grasped the hand that prodded her throat and laced her fingers between his in a small gesture he chose not to fight. "And I'm scared. I don't want to be by myself waiting for this to happen..."

"Five more minutes," he said before he vanished before her eyes and she clenched her fist as if hoping if she squeezed hard enough his hand could still be found there.

And so she cried. Evelyn cried and she waited to that moment of truth to arrive. Was she really ready for this? Ready to find out? The questions assaulted her mind and she had to brace herself to stand on the desk as her shoulders shook with the sobs. If she was wrong she would lose Kelly forever and she would never see Alfred again. The reality of her actions finally began to strike her and she sobbed even harder in the wood.

"Stop being such a little bitch, you wouldn't have been happy any other way."

She started at the sound of his voice and spun around from the desk to find him standing there staring down at her with a look of contempt. Evelyn stood up and looked at him with forlorn eyes as the sound of the clock downstairs slowly began to welcome itself into her world again.

"I guess that's true," she sniffled as her thumbs pulled the tears from her eyes. "No, actually, it is. You're right. I just would've been fretting the entire time wondering if at some moment I would just wake up and lose everything."

"You'll find out soon enough."

As Freddy watched her with his cold green eyes it almost pained him to know what the reality was. Despite his best efforts she had become somewhat special to him; his favourite plaything. With her open heart all her emotions were free for the world to partake in and he loved being able to pull every last one of them out of her. He felt the clock ticking by and could hear Alfred's cries outside of her sleeping pill induced coma though he doubted if she could. She didn't have much time left in his world before she'd find out the truth. That ever painful truth that gets a few of us every now and again.

Sometimes there is no happily ever after.

There was one thing he could do for her and regardless of his better mind he offered her her last chance. "I can wake you up Evelyn, keep you in my little slice of the world."

Evelyn looked at him as she smudged away the last of her tears. She hadn't fathomed the idea before but it made sense. Being a nightmare demon.

"No Freddy," she replied solemnly. "Let me sleep. I'm tired. Very tired of all of this confusion and not knowing. You're right that if I don't do this...I'll be tired forever."

"I offered," he snapped back and she knew that meant that if she changed her mind he wouldn't offer again. Another silence passed between them and he looked over to her again. "It's almost time."

"I can feel it," she replied. More than that, she could hear it. The noise of the clock was starting to get louder and louder trying to pull her back to where the time that passed was crucial. She just wondered where back was.

"It's too bad," he mused as he pulled his claws along the desk in thought peeling up little strips of wood.

"What is?"

He looked at her with a devilish grin that lit the flames of fury within her among other feelings. "No matter where you end up, this is my world. We won't be able to play together anymore. Too bad, I did enjoy our little game of cat mouse."

"I'll miss you too Freddy," she shot back playfully as she the felt the ticks of the clock within her heart. Each time made her wince as the sound pumped through her.

She began to fall to the side as she clutched at her chest in pain grabbed onto Freddy for support. He didn't assist her at all but instead merely allowed her to use him knowing that within a few seconds it wouldn't matter.

"Freddy it hurts!," she screamed in agony as the clock continued to tick louder and louder inside of her. "Make it stop!"

She was nearly doubled over in suffering as her fingers tried to tear through his shoulder. Her knees buckled together and finally he turned and caught her with his normal hand before she could hit the ground. Her body attempted to convulse in his grasp as she continued to cry out.

A small smirk spread itself across his ageless face; he'd send her to her death with a small message. Only he knew at this moment that she would never breathe again. "Remember to dream a little dream of me when you wake up Evelyn," he told her before he plunged his clawed hand through her chest and carved out her twisting and writhing heart. If a person can dream in death he certainly wanted her to listen to him so he could visit again; all his fun had been ended far too soon. Her warm blood spilled over his hands and down his arms to pool at his feet on the floor. As he let her body drop he squeezed at her still pulsing heart until it finally ceased its quiet panic. Evelyn's mind filled him before it began to fade away around him. Her body started to bubble and melt into the cracks of the floor as the walls creaked and shook before they began to dissipate into nothingness leaving only pure black in their wake. A loud cackle erupted from his chest as her very soul fell into him and became one of the many that powered him forward and her very thoughts and memories filled his own mind completely. He looked at the mass of bloody muscle in his hand held very delicately by the tips of all his claws. A large grin cracked open his face revealing all his stained and rotting teeth.

"Your heart always did belong to me, didn't it Evelyn," he laughed out victoriously as he twisted her heart around, examining it from all aspects before pushing his fingers through it, skewering it with the knives that had tortured so many.


End file.
